Inside the Vault - Gary Noonan

13pm

13pm

Water Chip? Been There, Done That
Another "Inside the Vault" at Bethblog.
Today they are interviewing Gary VXSS Noonan, character animator. We already know pretty much about him from "Meet the Devs" threads at Bethesda's Fallout 3 Forum. You can take a look at our Fallout 3 FAQ to see some quotes.

Guess what they didn't ask him about...
<blockquote>What’s your job at Bethesda?
Character Animator. Among other things that involve being a Character Art shock trooper.

What other games have you worked on?
If Bethesda made it since ‘96, I probably have a credit on it. From Battlespire to Fallout 3, I have been a 401k slaving fool.

What would you say is your personal favorite game of all time?
REALLY going out on a limb here, but I gotta say pinball. Sorry, pinball is electronic and has buttons/triggers, so it’s like a controller, and therefore, I claim it a videogame. Adams Family Pinball RULES!!

But ok, if you wanna get anal, Chrono Trigger. I still have the SNES cart complete with good-as-new packaging. It’s a prized possession that I like to go back and play every few years.

What games are you looking forward to?
Army of Two has had my attention for a while. Trying to stay under the radar on it so nothing is spoiled for me though.</blockquote>Take a look at his desktop wallpaper too.

Link: Inside the Vault: Gary Noonan
 
Why exactly does it matter if these people have played the original?

I mean, I get it if this were a For Fans By Fans production, but we know that Bethesda is a multi-million dollar company. They're not exactly an underground garage band doing it "all for the art."

Plus, a lot of these interviews have been from programmers and people of whom don't make design decisions about the game, so who cares if they played Fallout? It's not like their code is going to be more Fallout-y if they're a fan of the originals.

Even the artists are probably being told where to go with the design of things like Super Mutants, so I just don't really see the relevance at all. You don't go to another mechanic just because he doesn't drive your same make and model of car, y'know?
 
He was the first one that talked to Fallout fans, many moons ago. I'll search for that statement, it's somewhere here on NMA, don't have the time right now.

Of course he hates us now, too late to change that, still he's an interesting fellow, his replies on the BethBlog and the BethForum are usually very heterodox.
 
Tyshalle said:
Why exactly does it matter if these people have played the original?
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That's because Bethesda lied about the team being great Fallout fans.
 
That's because Bethesda lied about the team being great Fallout fans.
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Did they lie about being fans though? Just because they don't ask people that question isn't an indication as to whether or not the people are actually fans.

And please don't give me the "it's not turn-based/isometric viewpoint so obviously they aren't fans of Fallout," routine, because that's not a valid argument. Plenty of people loved everything about Fallout who are still looking forward to Fallout 3 as it is. It's certainly possible to be a serious fan of Fallout without believing that tb/iso are required elements of any game in the franchise.
 
Tyshalle said:
Did they lie about being fans though? Just because they don't ask people that question isn't an indication as to whether or not the people are actually fans.
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Pete is "they" and he did lie, in a sense, since he said he didn't know for sure (bah, you can guess what that "for sure" means) when he said they were ALL great Fallout fans...
 
Tyshalle said:
That's because Bethesda lied about the team being great Fallout fans.
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Did they lie about being fans though? Just because they don't ask people that question isn't an indication as to whether or not the people are actually fans.
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If they were Fallout fans, they would list Fallout as one of their favourite games, wouldn't they?
 
Tyshalle said:
Did they lie about being fans though? Just because they don't ask people that question isn't an indication as to whether or not the people are actually fans.
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You missed the order of events, I'm afraid.
- First Pete, and others, told us they were all really big Fallout fans
- Then these things started popping up. All the early Inside the Vault Q&As had the question "did you play the original Fallout?"
- A lot of people said "yes". Some programmers and stuff said no and we didn't care. But then some artist or designer said "no" and we started kicking up a ruckus and mocking Pete's "we're really big fans" spiel.
- Ever since then, they've removed that question from the Q&A and we mock them for removing that question every time.
 
Tyshalle said:
Did they lie about being fans though? Just because they don't ask people that question isn't an indication as to whether or not the people are actually fans.
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At least 100 years ago, they asked devs if they have played FOs or not. And guess what? It turns out many, many, many devs haven't played FOs!
Unless ofc you can be a fan of a movie you've never seen, book you've never read and music you've never heard- they lied. Now they don't even ask that question because they know how awesome this looks
 
Brother None said:
Explains a lot about the vault suits and super mutants, no?
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Not sure. Every second person at Bethesda appears to be a Lead Producer or Lead Artist or Lead smb else. So his title doesn't tell anythung specific and doesn't mean he's responsible for creating characters. Maybe putting 'em from concepts to 3D.
I think mostly concept artists are to blame for that shit.

But funny thing is they really stopped to ask em about if they played Fallout after that. So they kinda admit that they were lying about everyone being great Fallout fans by trying to avoid such stupid situations in future.
 
These bethblog "Inside the Vault" posts are pretty much worthless. I already know what these guys think they know about Fallout, and if I want to know about the devs personally I'll read the Meet the Devs threads.

I guess it's kind of fun to mock them though...
 
The funniest thing was that I had asked Matt if he'd be interested in running this type of casual interview series on NMA. No questions on the game, just "get to know you".

I asked him this in May 2006, before the Meet the Devs thread and before this Inside the Vault feature. For some reason, it was a bad idea then, but it works perfectly now...?
 
What would you say is your personal favorite game of all time?
REALLY going out on a limb here, but I gotta say pinball. Sorry, pinball is electronic and has buttons/triggers, so it’s like a controller, and therefore, I claim it a videogame. Adams Family Pinball RULES!!
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they asked favorite game. i'm not sure why he was so defensive. a lot of people would say their favorite game is go or chess. anyways, video pinball is a video game, but arcade pinball is not. also, it's spelled "Addams", but i suppose if you're in it for the bells and whistles you can't be bothered reading text.
 
They are afraid of you, BN. They know you're a ninja in disguise 8-)
Now, seriously, I don't know what is the actual reason they are treating the fansites like the fanbase is cursed. I can't find any reason except that they know they're making shit in our opinion and are afraid of bashing. But the only way to make shit is being too lazy to get into Fallout's spirit or just ignoring it to go more mainstream.
Thus I suppose they're meaningly making game that fans won't like (=mainstream shit). And all their actions towards fanbase are proving it.
 
Found it, July 12 2004:
Odin at NMA said:
Briosafreak informed me that a Bethesda developer named Gary Noonan (Graphics guy) posted his 3 cents on this whole ordeal and here's what he said:

Being a developer at Bethesda, I am also a big Fallout fan. I played all of the titles from FO1 to FOBOS. Not so much a fan of FOBOs or FOT, but I did play them through. To this day, FO1 is still in my top 5 fav games, not just RPGs. The campy humor, the grotesque action, and the integrated pop culture, as well as Pip Boy (can't leave THAT out!) are what allow FO to stand out from other titles. I agree, without these, it is simply NOT FO.

Now, the fact is, this news is just that.... NEWS. I have known about this for some time now, and I have been excited about it since the deal was still in the making. I AM a fan of FO. Who better to have working on a game than a FAN.... someone who knows the game, knows what it's about, knows the mood, knows the setting and atmosphere. Now, as a new development even here in the office, it's still quite a welcoming shock and we are ALL eager to be a part of it. I can't put into words how much I am dying to be a part of it.

So, for all the existing Tes fans, welcome the FO fans. Everyone has their opinions about titles and developers.

For the FO fans joining us, give it a chance. Everyone (well, I really speak for myself) here is excited about this opportunity and it is talked about quite a bit.

And for all, let's keep it cool. As everyone who has been here for a long enough period of time knows, we developers listen to what the fans have to say. The forums are our link to hearing your thoughts and input on aspects of the titles.
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