MTV Multiplayer Blog has a multi-part interview with Todd Howard. Part one talks of the Han Solo-effect.<blockquote>Multiplayer: And these are cool things? Because, again, you’re calling it “neutral.” It already sounds like something not to be proud of. Yet I know it’s the one I’m going to wind up being…
Howard: Some of [things you get] are very cool. And some of them are avoiding a negative that comes with being evil. If you’re evil some people will come after you. If you’re neutral they won’t. If you’re good some people will come after you. If you’re neutral they won’t.
Multiplayer: Everybody loves Han Solo, right? They like him more than Luke Skywalker, who’s the goody two-shoes. And Han Solo is the guy who — he’s not the bad guy, but he will murder people in cold blood. He’s got that mixture.
Howard: I can’t say we’ve conquered that.</blockquote>Part Two starts with the interviewer desperately trying to attribute a political message to the game for some mystifying reason before turning to actual gameplay talk.<blockquote>“I think leveling up in this game can be funny and you always get kind of cool [abilities],” Howard told me, as we discussed the franchise’s Perks system. “My current favorite one — and this was one of my favorites in the old games — it’s called Mysterious Stranger. And what that perk is is basically a mysterious person comes and helps you every once in a while. In the early games he would just pop up behind a barrel and shoot somebody. He’s a guy in a trench coat and a fedora. The way we do it in this game is: you go into VATs, and you go to shoot somebody, and if you miss for some reason and you have the perk, the mysterious stranger may show up. This guy in a trench coat just goes — BAM! — and kills somebody. And you go: ‘Where did that guy come from?’ It’s really funny.”
(...)
They’ve got the mysterious stranger. They’ve got the dog. What else was on the “Fallout” essentials checklist? A vault. The new game had to start with a vault, Howard told me. In fact, unlike the first game, the new one will require players to play a bit of their character’s life in the vault before venturing out.
What wasn’t essential to keep from the earlier “Fallout” games was the camera view or the setting. The top-down camera of old was replaced with a 3D view that can be controlled from first or third-person. Howard said the camera can be positioned to allow for a top-down view but is hopeful longtime fans will accept the new view. “This kind of presentation excites us more,” he said of his team. “Hopefully a lot of gamers feel the same way. ‘Fallout’ is so cool that it deserves this kind of treatment.”</blockquote>
Howard: Some of [things you get] are very cool. And some of them are avoiding a negative that comes with being evil. If you’re evil some people will come after you. If you’re neutral they won’t. If you’re good some people will come after you. If you’re neutral they won’t.
Multiplayer: Everybody loves Han Solo, right? They like him more than Luke Skywalker, who’s the goody two-shoes. And Han Solo is the guy who — he’s not the bad guy, but he will murder people in cold blood. He’s got that mixture.
Howard: I can’t say we’ve conquered that.</blockquote>Part Two starts with the interviewer desperately trying to attribute a political message to the game for some mystifying reason before turning to actual gameplay talk.<blockquote>“I think leveling up in this game can be funny and you always get kind of cool [abilities],” Howard told me, as we discussed the franchise’s Perks system. “My current favorite one — and this was one of my favorites in the old games — it’s called Mysterious Stranger. And what that perk is is basically a mysterious person comes and helps you every once in a while. In the early games he would just pop up behind a barrel and shoot somebody. He’s a guy in a trench coat and a fedora. The way we do it in this game is: you go into VATs, and you go to shoot somebody, and if you miss for some reason and you have the perk, the mysterious stranger may show up. This guy in a trench coat just goes — BAM! — and kills somebody. And you go: ‘Where did that guy come from?’ It’s really funny.”
(...)
They’ve got the mysterious stranger. They’ve got the dog. What else was on the “Fallout” essentials checklist? A vault. The new game had to start with a vault, Howard told me. In fact, unlike the first game, the new one will require players to play a bit of their character’s life in the vault before venturing out.
What wasn’t essential to keep from the earlier “Fallout” games was the camera view or the setting. The top-down camera of old was replaced with a 3D view that can be controlled from first or third-person. Howard said the camera can be positioned to allow for a top-down view but is hopeful longtime fans will accept the new view. “This kind of presentation excites us more,” he said of his team. “Hopefully a lot of gamers feel the same way. ‘Fallout’ is so cool that it deserves this kind of treatment.”</blockquote>
