NMA Fallout 3 preview and Q&A

[welsh]

I am wondering, if the demo is a glimpse into a future, how much can be fixed.

Seriously, the demo could be used simply for marketing hype, but it could also be used for the creation of constructive criticism. While I am tempted to suggest, "start over", what kinds of issues of gameplay might Bethesda be expected, reasonably, to make improvment?

 

[Brendon]

Heh, but we said Fallout 3 looks fun, too Maybe we'll be receiving your hatemail from now on.

Thanks again for all the help, Brendon!

Any time. It resulted in the best preview yet, so I'm glad I could help. I've had no trouble admitting I'm not a huge diehard Fallout fan, so it's nice to at least contribute to people who ARE getting something up.

In other news, I think between this and a few other things I don't think I should mention in public, I'm pretty sure it will be harder to pull these types of things off

 

[A.S.S.R.]

Excellent preview/QA session.

What got my interest was the comment on SuparMutant origins, and how the unwashed masses have yet to ascertain Beth's back-story.

I suggest a thread in the Fo3 ideas board where we pour out heaps of unfounded speculation on the subject.

- A.S.S.R.

 

[Killzig]

Kharn, question: since most of the demo was in FPP did you notice any kind of camera bob?

Not really, definitely not significantly. Maybe SuAside did.

in Oblivion I think it was dictated by your hands, you'd see the hands moving in front of you but if you had your weapon away it looked like you were just gliding. Made me sick.

 

[SimpleMinded]

I like Beth's rationale that everything wrong with the demo is a result of it being just a demonstration of what they've odne so far.

 

[Makagulfazel]

Man, there went an hour of my life.
Well played, sirs, well played.

 

[Pipboy2000]

Took me a while, but I finally read it. Damn. Sounds like it might be "alright", but whatever. Minus the bugs, like ants climbing trees(wtf???).

I still can't believe Kharn and SuAside made it in there. Bravo on that boys.

My favorite line from the article:

At no point in the demo or Q&A did NMA's staff identify themselves as from NMA.

Phure gold.

What I don't get is how you made it to Germany! :/

Edit: I demand a shirt.

 

[Allen63]

Very good review of what you saw and heard. Seemed quite fairly stated. Bethesda had nothing to worry about from you guys.

The BoS comments were the most concerning to me. Hopefully, the actual game will "explain" the differences to the original Fallouts in some way. Given that Fallout is fiction and the "former" USA is a big country, one could argue that BoS is not the same everywhere -- a little explanation can go a long way (explanation in-game as part of the game).

Secondarily, I agree, the mutants look too generic to other games -- I would like a bit more of an intelligent look -- one that may garner some sympathy from the player, at times. Moreover, to be consistent with the original Fallout, one should be able to converse with some of them. However, again, a little explanation of the reason for the differences could go a long way.

Finally, the way some NPCs ignored obvious "situations" nearby (that should have engendered a response) is not something I want to see in the final game.

 

[stingray420]

Kudos guys!

I love how you guys got in there, and I think the preview is by far the best one yet written on the game by a long shot, no matter what you think of the game and the direction it is going.

It really sucks that to get to see the demo, and to even get a short interview with a Beth employee you had to use all this cloak and dagger stuff. Kind of sad really, but no matter.

Other then Gstaff there has been no comment about this from Beth(other then there plants ), I would really love to know what they think of this. And if they plan to you know actually treat NMA, DaC, and codex with maybe a bit more respect, more then just annoyances now?

 

[ivpiter]

Best preview report I've seen, in depth, two points of view, mentions the pros and cons. Well done.

I'm of the opinion that this is something Beth was trying very hard to avoid as it can seriously hamper the hype machine - just an opinion with some circumstantial evidence to back it up, but as Gstaff said "Very sneaky indeed".

Anyways, I'm a touch more optimistic about dialogue, looks like the 38 character limit is gone; however, my hopes for the dark irony and moral ambiguity were killed by the back-to-back comment that can be summed up as:

Brotherhood of Steel = "Good Guys"
Mutants = "Bad Guys"

While in FO and FO2

Brotherhood of Steel = Shades of grey xenophobic technologists
Mutants = Shades of Grey Flawed Goal of Masters Utopian Unity

 

[wyatt]

"Armed with a fire hydrant as a club, a car door as a shield (which is odd as a car door wouldn't stop bullets) and carrying a shopping cart on his back to keep corpses in, Hines explains that this is the "boss creature for the supermutants," who can deal and take tons of damage."

WTF MAN! Who let the street fighter level boss in my Fallout ........


Anyway, good preview guys. Two thumbs up! [/quote]

 

[Kyuu]

Probably not as good as Fallout deserves, but decent. Sorta like Fallout Tactics I guess.

I'd actually agree with this, except that Tactics had good tactical gameplay (in my opinion, not interested in debating about it) that helped keep my interest up. FO3's combat, from what I can ascertain so far, really doesn't seem to have anything to it. So unless the RPG elements turn out much better than my impression of it so far, or the combat turns out to be much better in-game than on paper, "decent" won't be quite enough to garner a purchase.

 

[SuAside]

Is there any word on human enemies outside the vault? All the focus in the demo seems to be on wasting mutants/monsters - I'm vaguely curious as to how raiders and human enemies will be implemented, or will it predominantly be a monster bash (as I now suspect)?

eventhough the demo shows no human vs human combat, it is implied that you can bust heads with the sheriff of Megaton.

that said, there is no doubt in my mind that there will be plenty of human enemies in the final game.

NMA: In 2004, Tim Cain stated in a PC Zone interview that Fallout's combat was meant to show "how popular and fun turn-based combat could be, when everyone else was going with real-time or pause-based combat.", so why did Bethesda go against that? Wouldn't it also have been a lot easier to not naming the game Fallout 3 and simply naming it "Fallout: Something", thereby starting your own series with your own views without leaving yourself open to much fan criticism?
Pete Hines: We're making the sequel as we think it would be best in the modern age and how it would work best today. This means taking full advantage of all modern technology and first person to facilitate immersion. There is no reason today not to do so. We also didn't want to make our 'own' series because we want to make a true sequel to the first two Fallouts.

As I read the answer to this question my left eye tensed up unintentionally. I've never been happy with what they are doing to Fallout, but I now seem to have a blind hatred for everything related to Bethesda after reading this one... I don't even know how to insult this answer without going into a tirade of expletives like "Motherfucker" which they seem to be so fond of. I don't think I can keep taking this horse hockey they keep regurgitating. Learning more about this faux sequel doesn't seem to be worth my time anymore.

we decided not to comment much on the Q&A and let it speak for itself. the 'retarded by 8 years' comment is a gem too.

You should've seen the look on SuA's face after he saw it.
First thing I said to him after seeing it was "Best. Game. Ever."

haha. i really have no recollection of my facial traits after the demo.

i'm guessing that the facial traits might have been slightly influenced by Pete's answers to the Tim Cain quote and the 'retrarded by 8 years' part of the Q&A. (though at the same time i was quite happy that i had been able to ask so many questions)

Kharn, question: since most of the demo was in FPP did you notice any kind of camera bob?

Not really, definitely not significantly. Maybe SuAside did.

no. if there was, it was not significant enough to take notice or get annoyed by it.

in Oblivion I think it was dictated by your hands, you'd see the hands moving in front of you but if you had your weapon away it looked like you were just gliding. Made me sick.

the PC's weapon was shouldered most of the time that he wasnt fighting. so no visible weapon half the time and during combat you dont really notice bob.

The BoS comments were the most concerning to me. Hopefully, the actual game will "explain" the differences to the original Fallouts in some way. Given that Fallout is fiction and the "former" USA is a big country, one could argue that BoS is not the same everywhere -- a little explanation can go a long way (explanation in-game as part of the game).

the BoS is a non-expansive local group formed around the time of the nuclear exchange. so the simple fact that they would be a different entity on the east coast (and even just being there) is odd to say the least.

as for them sending an expedition to save the world if there were another vats on the east coast is possible, though unlikely. afterall, they didnt have the balls to help you much agains the Enclave...

Finally, the way some NPCs ignored obvious "situations" nearby (that should have engendered a response) is not something I want to see in the final game.

yeah, i found it very underexploited. though it could simply mean the cops are in league with the gangers in some way.

Brotherhood of Steel = Shades of grey xenophobic technologists
Mutants = Shades of Grey Flawed Goal of Masters Utopian Unity

the capitalised Grey made me lol. nice pun.

nightkin were the shades of Richard Grey indeed!

 

[quietfanatic]

Best preview so far. Great job guys.

Thanks to GamerNode, MadShrimps.be and the rest for maybe making this possible. The apparent need for subterfuge is unfortunate, but I hope Bethsoft doesn't take it too badly. I somehow doubt it will reach the official Fallout 3 site.

had only the hell of the wasted to greet them.

Does Ron Perlman need elocution lessons? I believe that is wasteland, although different previews have been inconsistent. Such mediocre writing. The preview writing is excellent on the other hand, although it could be a tad tighter. How depressing.

Are we sure DPS is /s? That doesn't make sense for a hit/miss system, unless everything counts as 1 s vs fire/toxic goo etc.

Did we notice which skills have been dropped? No? Darn.

Hmm. More evidence supporting my theory that Inon Zur is composing. At least it doesn't sound like it was intrusively horrible this time.

The lack of emphasis on dialogue and 3rd person zoomed out compared to excessive violence and slaptick humour is unfortunate.

The cryolator and mesmetron would presumably be freeze and turn enemy/stun guns respectively.

Isn't a Fire Hydrant attached to a functional high-pressure underground water system? Water that leaks underground could have an even higher rad count.

Okay, so people are punished for aiming for location in real time.
Although the combat is unfixable, it seems like may of the mistakes will be fixable, so modding brings much hope. If the dialogue and quest scripting is flexible enough whilst the engine isn't too painful to use, gamers could ensure that Bethsoft's Fallout has a very long lifetime.

The possible lack of negative stim effects is irritating.

As I expected, they don't appear to have the talent to make a true Fallout sequel, or even a sophisticated RPG, but what puzzles me most is why they need to butcher the setting, such as with the BoS, super mutants, excessive swearing and multiple shiny cartoon nuclear explosions. Copying the Vault is the easy part, which seems to be done well, although more would have been nice (R.I.P. super sledge) but consistency with the setting is most important. I strongly dislike the bobble heads and mini-games, but dispensing with the setting and atmosphere which they apparently love is inexcusable.

There is still time for them to fix that, but I doubt they would have the guts to do so. It is not too late to hire better writers or get existing designers and modelers to try again. People could argue that many issues are misleading due to the preview nature of the sample, but what reasonable person would show poor material to the public, rather than appropriate examples of your best work?

 

[Brendon]

It really sucks that to get to see the demo, and to even get a short interview with a Beth employee you had to use all this cloak and dagger stuff. Kind of sad really, but no matter.

Hey, it was fun. Ask BN, it was literally two days before the showing (or maybe one day? I'm not too good at the whole time difference between the US and Europe) that he was cleared. I'm not sure how it went on SuA's side... Likely much smoother

In other news, I never even noticed that 8 years comment in the Q&A. I should go back and reread that once I wake up.

 

[God is Dog backwards]

Nice work. It's a shame it had to be done this way, but it's nice to see people in the games industry helping make this stuff happen (brendon etc).

So by the sounds of it - well, I'm not sure. Good and bad?

 

[Seto]

"According to SuAside, the vault does look noticeably darker than Fallout's Vault 13."

Maybe they accidentally showed Vault 42, the one where no light bulb was stronger than 40W?

 

[Literacy_Hooligan]

Really nice work. The whole writing process reminds me of James Bond games
The preview made me keep my theories about the game:
Beth still doesn't really know what to do and hot to do it. At least they did the vault nicely.
We have a great sentence in our country which would clearly describe Beth:
"Is didelio rasto isejo is krasto" which would mean "He was a great writer, but couldn't write anything..."
Heh... Let's sing YMCA instead! That's retro, that's fun!!!

 

[SuAside]

Hey, it was fun. Ask BN, it was literally two days before the showing (or maybe one day? I'm not too good at the whole time difference between the US and Europe) that he was cleared. I'm not sure how it went on SuA's side... Likely much smoother

wasnt a problem. i applied weeks ahead of time and confirmed on the 7th of August.

"According to SuAside, the vault does look noticeably darker than Fallout's Vault 13."
Maybe they accidentally showed Vault 42, the one where no light bulb was stronger than 40W?

not darker as in pure lighting. there were plenty of lights.
but more steampunk darkish and the paint on the walls was not the color we knew.

though the darker atmosphere isnt bad by definition. it just isnt the same. time will tell if that change is for the better or not. chances are they're still tweaking this kind of stuff.

 

[d_agra]

question

How did ron perlman sound and the whole introduction? sorry if you already discussed it