Jeuxvideo.fr plays Fallout 3

[MrBumble]

Jeuxvideo.fr, one of the biggest French gamesites, has played Fallout 3 at the E3 and gives us its impressions through this article, also available at Clubic.<blockquote>One should remember that the game is still in development and that it won't be released until several months. However, it is impossible not to be disappointed by this Xbox 360 version. Impossible to miss the systematic aliasing of the scenery and a certain lack of "sharpness" of the textures. Even worse, the whole thing really lacks "a sense of life" even though we are dealing with a post-apocalyptics world. No, the real problem lies elsewhere, particulary for the fans of the previous episodes : it is impossible to find the artistic design, style of Fallout 1 & 2. Bethesda seems to have been instead inspired by something like Mad Max.

[...]

very soon, the player is confronted to another way of "breaking the rythm" : too numerous loading screens. The slightest changing of zone is synonymous of several seconds of loading which we hope will be reduced until the game is released.

[...]

Too bad that the interface, materialized here by the famous PipBoy on the main character's forearm, is not more intuitive : nothing dramatic about it but Bethesda did not completely correct the problem Oblivion already had. We could not see the PC version, but we certainly DO hope that on this platform, the studio has understood the lesson a little better.

[...]

The game immediately feels like Oblivion and goes away rather clearly from the previous episodes. It is not really a surprise, but it will probably disappoint some of the nostalgic fans. The dialog system works exactly like Oblivion's, so does the integreation of secondary quests offered by the different NPCs and one soon has the impression of playing a post-apocalyptic remake of that same Oblivion. It is not necessarily a bad thing but the forementionned nostalgics probably won't take it too kindly. On the other hand, Elder Scrolls fans will probably be delighted by this changing of universe, especially since the Mad Max atmosphere we were talking of is rather well rendered.

[...]

Finally, but then again the thirty minutes we were allowed to play the game were probably to blame, the gigantic world we were told of by Bethesda seemed rather limited and very rigid : one can of course go where one wants, but the lack of a real aim immediately gets perceptible. To put an end to this short preview and to temperate this feeling of deception, I would like to say that 30 minutes for a game like Fallout 3 is obviously not the right way to get into the subject. Let's hope that Bethesda will so allow us to go further deep !</blockquote>Thanks to Pluton.

 

[TheSHEEEP]

That one seems refreshingly critical.
Oh, those Europeans!

Wait a moment...

 

[Per]

Feels like Oblivion, huh?

When did they play it?

 

[MrBumble]

I wonder if Bethesda think they have done a good job communicating on Fallout 3 at the E3. A 30 minutes video presentation like they did with Oblivion ( despite all the lies about Radiant AI ) would have been so much better than the ridiculous gameplay video and 30 minutes hands-on...

 

[Bofast]

How refreshing those French people can be at times! Thank you, MrBumble and Pluton

 

[MrBumble]

How refreshing those French people can be at times! Thank you, MrBumble and Pluton

My pleasure. I wish I'd come with better news though...My title should say "Messenger of woe" or something.

 

[Per]

Since my lizard sense is telling me people are posting right now that NMA only quotes the negative parts of any article, and these excerpts could give you that impression, I feel compelled to ask for clarification: the parts that you snipped, did they contain any balancing value statements, or were they mostly or completely neutral descriptions of game elements we have already read about?

 

[welsh]

Hmmm... Plays and feels like Bethesda's Oblivion.. has guns... has some fallout elements tossed in.

FO3 = Oblivion with Guns with some Fallout elements tossed in.

 

[MrBumble]

Since my lizard sense is telling me people are posting right now that NMA only quotes the negative parts of any article, and these excerpts could give you that impression, I feel compelled to ask for clarification: the parts that you snipped, did they contain any balancing value statements, or were they mostly or completely neutral descriptions of game elements we have already read about?

I actually spared y'all some further criticism ( previewer says the game feels pretty slow and he couldn't get into it even if, he says, the fact that he could only play it for 30min might be to blame ). Other than that it's descriptive ( combat system and skills mainly ) and remains pretty vague.

 

[Jesuit]

I remember when everyone was saying that Starcraft would be orcs in space.... I think they were right, actually.

Impossible to miss the systematic aliasing of the scenery and a certain lack of "sharpness" of the textures.

...is rather well rendered.

Am I the only one that noticed this contradiction? Possibly something was lost in translation?

Also don't know how to react to the implication that it's heavily inspired by Mad Max. The original games were too, do they mean the whole thing is just mad max at the exclusion of other Fallout-y influences?

I never played oblivion but I was wondering is there something remarkably different about the way you get side quests from NPCs in that game?

 

[MrBumble]

Having translated it, the mad max reference sounded like a sort of generic post-apocalyptic world as opposed to fallout unique design. As for the rendering thing, he was probably talking of the general feeling of the game, without taking technical "details" into consideration.

 

[Jesuit]

Having translated it, the mad max reference sounded like a sort of generic post-apocalyptic world as opposed to fallout unique design. As for the rendering thing, he was probably talking of the general feeling of the game, without taking technical "details" into consideration.

Oh ok, I think I get it now. It's a generic post-apoc world, but a well made generic post-apoc world? I think the word rendered usually implies image quality in relation to video games.

 

[Phil the Nuka-Cola Dude]

I took it to mean that the textures are just as low-res/ugly as ever, but the modeling is passable.

 

[Ranne]

Oh ok, I think I get it now. It's a generic post-apoc world, but a well made generic post-apoc world? I think the word rendered usually implies image quality in relation to video games.

They obviously implied that a Mad Max-styled post-apocalyptic world would be pretty barren and ordinary in comparison to the original Fallout games. Also, I believe (a) it is a rather amateur translation of the originally French article; (b) the word "render" has a crapload of other meanings in the English language, and (c) you already knew all that but went nitpicking anyway.

EDIT: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=render

 

[Jesuit]

Oh ok, I think I get it now. It's a generic post-apoc world, but a well made generic post-apoc world? I think the word rendered usually implies image quality in relation to video games.

They obviously implied that a Mad Max-styled post-apocalyptic world would be pretty barren and ordinary in comparison to the original Fallout games. Also, I believe (a) it is a rather amateur translation of the originally French article; (b) the word "render" has a crapload of other meanings in the English language, and (c) you already knew all that but went nitpicking anyway.

EDIT: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=render

(a)I Am aware that the translation is amateur, that is why I'm not as comfortable as you are assuming it's implications in regards to the mad max reference. I suppose you've never been burned by a bad translation before though. One day.

(b) Render has a specific trade related meeting in reference to computers and video games. Specifically:

Computer Science To convert (graphics) from a file into visual form, as on a video display.

if you're talking about a trade like video games and you're using the word render in a different way you have to do so unambiguously. This is true of many other trades and I don't feel like giving examples. Even if you disagree, it doesn't really seem that hard to imagine why someone would be confused about that usage.

(c) That is your right. Though please do take into consideration that some of us want to qualify and understand what we read, I'm sorry if you think the appropriate response to the amateur translation of this article is to treat it as an unequivocal confirmation of your worst fears about the game. Can't blame a guy for trying to salvage something.

Edit: I don't mean this to reflect badly on MrBumble. I'm very grateful for his work in translating this article. Thanks MrBumble.

 

[Ranne]

As a game developer, I'm well aware of the use of the term "render" in the world of computer graphics. I am also aware of the fact that most people, including myself, use this word in a whole variety of contexts that are not relevant to its particular meaning. Same goes for "mouse", "driver", "virus", or any other computer-related terms that originated from real world objects and concepts.

Again, your criticism would seem valid in case of a pivotal translation made by a professional interpreter. Since you also don't strike me as a person with reading comprehension problems or limited English proficiency, I just couldn't see this as anything else but nitpicking.

 

[Jesuit]

As a game developer, I'm well aware of the use of the term "render" in the world of computer graphics. I am also aware of the fact that most people, including myself, use this word in a whole variety of contexts that are not relevant to its particular meaning. Same goes for "mouse", "driver", "virus", or any other computer-related terms that originated from real world objects and concepts.

So... You honestly don't see how saying "the world is beautifully rendered" in the context of a video game implies the quality of graphics, and not the make up of the world?

Again, your criticism would seem valid in case of a pivotal translation made by a professional interpreter. Since you also don't strike me as a person with reading comprehension problems or limited English proficiency, I just couldn't see this as anything else but nitpicking.

It wasn't criticism... I was asking for clarification. Once received I offered a suggestion that might help prevent future confusion. Yes, I was actually trying to be helpful.

 

[Eyenixon]

That was a fucking terrible preview. I don't care what they say, but either that translation sucks or I should trust these people as far as I can throw them, and if you wrap them all in a bundle it becomes obvious I can't throw ten French guys binded together with cement shoes into the ocean.

 

[Ranne]

I'm in a hurry and I really don't want to further drag myself into this crap. Let me just say that there's a world of difference between

"the world is beautifully rendered"

and

"the Mad Max atmosphere we were talking of is rather well rendered"

For one, there aren't that many graphical engines out there that have atmosphere rendering capabilities, if you really choose to be literal...

 

[Jesuit]

I'm in a hurry and I really don't want to further drag myself into this crap. Let me just say that there's a world of difference between

"the world is beautifully rendered"

and

"the Mad Max atmosphere we were talking of is rather well rendered"

For one, there aren't that many graphical engines out there that have atmosphere rendering capabilities, if you really choose to be literal...

If you read any other forums regarding this preview you'll know that I'm not the only who made this mistake. Of course, your eye-rolling doesn't really surprise me as, being a software developer myself, I'm reminded everyday of how immature and unable to effectively communicate most people in our field tend to be. Should I link you to a list of the multiple definitions of 'atmosphere' just to top it off? Nah.