J.E. Sawyer interview

[Sam Ecorners]

Gamingunion.net posted an interview with J.E. Sawyer. It's an interesting read, Sawyer talks about his views on ownership of the franchise, development of Fallout: New Vegas and franchise fans:<blockquote>GU: It strikes me that this is a series with a lot of history to it. So when you make this game you have to think about the people that loved the original games, as well as those who love Bethesda's approach to Fallout 3. How do you juggle those expectations?

JS: One, ignore some people. I mean flat out, there are people that are reasonable and people who are unreasonable. And then there are people that are completely reasonable, but in a small minority.

So for us, really the way that I approached it was - there are two camps of people. There are the big fans of the original games, the characters of the original games and the factions of the original games. And then there are people that are more into the experience they had with Fallout 3.

So with our story we try to have a lot of characters and organisations from the first two games. You are not required to play those games to appreciate them, but I think that the fans really appreciate things life the California Republic is back, characters like Marcus from Fallout 2, even minor organisations like the Gun Runners of the Apocalypse. People appreciate all that stuff.

But people coming to it from Fallout 3, there are no barriers to them getting into it because it's so fundamentally similar to it.

And then in terms of difficulty, we've done things like add a new hardcore mode, which is separate from normal difficulty, and it really does ramp up the challenge for people that want a more hardcore experience.

So hopefully those two major contingents will find that Fallout New Vegas has something for them.</blockquote>

 

[OakTable]

Gun Runners of the Apocalypse? Man, Sawyer needs to enunciate more or something. There was a mistake like that in that last interview he did.

 

[KING SHIT]

Gun Runners of the Apocalypse? Man, Sawyer needs to enunciate more or something. There was a mistake like that in that last interview he did.

Could be the mistake of whoever interviewed him. There's plenty of spelling mistakes in the article too.

 

[ZeusComplex]

Mistakes aside, He seems really excited for this game, and that in turn is starting to generate a bit of excitement in me. I do agree that the Fallout series and universe is becoming more than the orignial sum of it's parts, though wither or not this is a good thing, I still can't conclude with myself.

In reality, we wouldn't have so many damn lore contradictions if each development team did their homework before writing their respective Fallout game - A bit of Intellegence wouldn't hurt this fact much either. As for his "interpretations", We'll just have to wait and see. It really isn't like they can hurt the setting more than it has been in the past.

 

[Faceless Stranger]

I really can't wait to see the look on the Beth fans when the REAL BoS sends them to die or something.

 

[Bonsai72]

I really can't wait to see the look on the Beth fans when the REAL BoS sends them to die or something.

Why should they?
It is pretty clearly stated in FO3 (by the Brotherhood Outcasts) that THEY follow the normal doctrine of the BOS.
Another thing stated (at least in the Pit-Addon) ist that when the brotherhood came through Pittsburgh - on their way to the east - they didn´t care much whom they hit with their firepower, as they cleaned the place out in a way that would put the crusaders of old to shame.

 

[Expresate]

I really can't wait to see the look on the Beth fans when the REAL BoS sends them to die or something.

most people know what the real BoS are like.

 

[Faceless Stranger]

I really can't wait to see the look on the Beth fans when the REAL BoS sends them to die or something.

most people know what the real BoS are like.

I dunno, they were pretty much stamped as the goody-two-shoes DEFENDERS OF THE WASTELAND in F3. So they may be surprised when they're told to fuck off by the brotherhood. And, the outcasts were considered evil and fairly minor so the players may not even make the connection. Same with the Pitt, as far as most players are concered, the BoS just killed the naughty raiders.

 

[UncannyGarlic]

They need to hire an editor, that article is atrocious.

The DLC quotes look almost verbatim what Beth said during Fallout 3.

People talk about a hardcore fanbase. But even from that fanbase there are a lot of different opinions. It's not like they are a unified group of people. A lot of them have some very strong opinions, but those opinions are not always the same.

This sounds familiar...

GU: What about the Wii?

JS: I don't think it's quite right. [Laughs]

Then you, sir, are a fool. It would seem like developers and publishers would like to create games for the most widely owned console in the US and worldwide... Granted it probably would have been a major task to modify the engine for it since Beth avoided the platform and Beth not exploiting that platform is the real reason it's not being made for the Wii.

JS: Yeah, we have to be very thorough in researching what we're doing. The thing is - and this isn't a cop out - the Fallout series has a lot of internal contradictions. So in the cases where we encounter a contradiction we're free to interpret it however we wish.

The contradictions were mostly introduced in the sequels and particularly in the spin-offs, bible, and Fallout 3.

GU: Did bringing [high profile voice actors] on board change the way you approached the characters?

JS: What we did was look at the language that we used to reinforce the style that those actors could bring. There was definitely a bit of back and forth on that.

That sounds promising but we'll see how well it translates. It sounds like they were actually working with the VA's before they came in to record, which is a big plus.

 

[Expresate]

I really can't wait to see the look on the Beth fans when the REAL BoS sends them to die or something.

most people know what the real BoS are like.

I dunno, they were pretty much stamped as the goody-two-shoes DEFENDERS OF THE WASTELAND in F3. So they may be surprised when they're told to fuck off by the brotherhood. And, the outcasts were considered evil and fairly minor so the players may not even make the connection. Same with the Pitt, as far as most players are concered, the BoS just killed the naughty raiders.

You act like none of the people who played Fallout 3 played Fallout 1 or 2 or did research after the fact. That is absolutely false.

 

[UncannyGarlic]

You act like none of the people who played Fallout 3 played Fallout 1 or 2 or did research after the fact. That is absolutely false.

Do you really think that the majority of people for whom Fallout 3 was their first Fallout game really bothered to play the first two after it or research the lore of the games? That seems highly improbable.

 

[Faceless Stranger]

You act like none of the people who played Fallout 3 played Fallout 1 or 2 or did research after the fact. That is absolutely false.

Do you really think that the majority of people for whom Fallout 3 was their first Fallout game really bothered to play the first two after it or research the lore of the games? That seems highly improbable.

The first 2 were too hard and had bad graphix.

 

[Expresate]

You act like none of the people who played Fallout 3 played Fallout 1 or 2 or did research after the fact. That is absolutely false.

Do you really think that the majority of people for whom Fallout 3 was their first Fallout game really bothered to play the first two after it or research the lore of the games? That seems highly improbable.

I know, but I know a good number of people who did. Like myself. Made me wish I had known about Fallout earlier.

 

[C2B]

Seems like Sawyer is visiting FalloutNow.

GU: So do you go on the communities and see what they're saying?

JS: Yep. I go on and sometimes I say stuff and sometimes I just read. And it's very interesting. Sometimes I go on the German sites, because I can barely read German, sometimes I'll go there and I'll read what people have to say because I'm pretty sure that they don't think that I'm there. Y'know, anywhere that I can go where I feel that I can get unfiltered feedback. Where they don't think the developers are reading it. I like to go to more obscure places so I can see what people have to say.

 

[sampson70]

You act like none of the people who played Fallout 3 played Fallout 1 or 2 or did research after the fact. That is absolutely false.

Do you really think that the majority of people for whom Fallout 3 was their first Fallout game really bothered to play the first two after it or research the lore of the games? That seems highly improbable.

I did .....

 

[Stanislao Moulinsky]

Then you, sir, are a fool. It would seem like developers and publishers would like to create games for the most widely owned console in the US and worldwide... Granted it probably would have been a major task to modify the engine for it since Beth avoided the platform and Beth not exploiting that platform is the real reason it's not being made for the Wii.

I don't know...the problem with the Wii is that a large part of its owners are the kind of players that would never buy a game like FO3 or FO:NV. Also, engine aside, there's the usual problem with the Wiimote not having enough buttons or having them out of reach. Why do you think that certain genres are basically nonexistent on the Wii?

 

[ZeusComplex]

There are all sorts of reasons for a non-wii title. The Technology isn't there and Nintendo is notorious for it's family-friendly policy. While there are the titles like Mad World and No More Heroes, they all sold like shit. Sadly, It's all about the $$$ these days.

I've also heard somewhere that Nintendo is a bitch to work with. Nintendo was never really strong in it's third party developed titles since the haydays of the Nintendo 64. That system lacked practically every genre in exsistence. Same with the Gamecube. It had some support but it was easily outsold by the others for it's lack of titles. Only Resident Evil 4, brought some of the other console players to it's doorstep. That title ended up getting ported to the PS2 in a version that was in everyway superior. What was really the point of getting a 'Cube if you had no interest in the gay italian plumber and his LSD tripping adventures? The Wii only found success for breaking into a gold-mine called the casual gamer. Even then, their third-party library is a mix of sell-outs, talentless hacks, and new comers who want to make a little dough.

 

[Stanislao Moulinsky]

I've also heard somewhere that Nintendo is a bitch to work with. Nintendo was never really strong in it's third party developed titles since the haydays of the Nintendo 64. That system lacked practically every genre in exsistence.

It was more complicated than simple lack of support. More or less the success of the PS1, the overly complicated structure of the N64 and the choice of cartridges as support led to the way too common situation were developers didn't do games because the console wasn't selling enough and the console wasn't selling enough because there weren't games.

Only Resident Evil 4, brought some of the other console players to it's doorstep. That title ended up getting ported to the PS2 in a version that was in everyway superior.

That's stretching it. RE4 on the PS2 had a few nice extras but graphically it was waaaay inferior, loading times were longer and the engine suffered here and there.

 

[Lexx]

The only reason for me to buy a Cube was the Resident Evil ramake (which is really great) and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. And I bought it, when the Cube cost me only 50 euro some time ago. :>

 

[White Knight]

I know what the original brotherhood is like but I haven't seen them in the original games. It'll be interesting to see them conveyed in NV.