PSM3 Fallout 3 hands-on preview

[hailtotheking]

I'm drawing a blank for an example but I know I've seen modders make some pretty radical changes to games before.

and even if the engine Isn't that flexible atleast people can take out all of Beths' "VISION OF A BETTER FALLOUT"

So there would be no more:
-Fat Man
-Robo Pony
-3 dawg
-Dogmeat sacrelig
-Being able to pause the game and fire several shots.(Oh yeah that makes it REAL challenging)
-Perks every level
-Generic "you must go find your father" storyline.
-goats
-"BEHEMOTH SUPERMUTANT OMG"(Afterall the whole concept of the supermutants was to have an army of behemoth's)
-Out of place BoS and Enclave.
-Horrible reskinned orcs as supermutants(modders could add proper skins/models)
-Ghouls that look like mummified corpses.
-Liam Neeson
-Out of place toilet humour.
-Making flame throwers out of empty pickle jars and bicycle seats.
-Nuckular sploding KARZzzzzzz
-FPS Style fire fights

Infact thats what Fallout 3 needs more than anything is a fallout 3 modding wishlist because theres so much that could be added to that list.

Great list! Though I think that because of the shear amount of stuff that Beth has fucked up it would be extremely difficult to pull off. And even if Beth decides to release the editor, you certainly wouldn´t be able to mod a lot of hard-wired stuff like the perspective, combat-system or A.I (similar to RTW-RTR). My bet is that we are fucked on lot of other important aspects also, like the amount of endings, the so called "minimal" level-scaling, skills, map-size and maybe even the factions.

My only hope is that in 5-6 years from now a team of heroic modders will buy the F3 in-house gamedesign platform and give this game the isometric and TB love it should have gotten in the first place.

In that case I would also hope for immersion-savers like:

-Reskinned supermuties and no Behemoths
-A different name for dogmeat (ALBERT?)
-No level scaling at all
-Eye and groin shots
-Less auto-aggressive and generic/dumb enemies
-No stupid Radiant AI, but a focus on gameworld consequences that affect availability, general health, the populations use of drugs, faction strength et cetera
-Cars and no autotravel
-Proper factions and less lame storyline (more pressure on main quest)
-A bigger map
-Less fights and greater emphasis on dialogue consequenses and trading/exploring. The possibility to talk oneself out of a fight in a random encounter.
-No exploding cars
-No generic, unintelligible, bloodthirsty, raving mad ghouls
-Random encounters have consequenses for the game-world (for karma, factions ie.) and are not just respawning generic raiders.
-Millons of possible endings, like F2
-Only weapons from F2
-No action-style endgame (like in Stalker or Todd Howard´s 70+ hour savegame with the D.C downtown action bonanza)
-Steal-skill works like in F2 (might not be butched in Beths F3)
-Option to keep playing after the ending

 

[Per]

I honestly don't get why people are griping about the name Dogmeat. It's not "the" Dogmeat. We don't even know if it is a dog name Dogmeat; we only know that's how it is identified by the game. It's a simple and fairly expected nod back to the old games.

 

[Ausir]

Only weapons from F2

Weapons in FO2 were just as bad as in FO3, if for other reasons.

 

[hailtotheking]

Only weapons from F2

Weapons in FO2 were just as bad as in FO3, if for other reasons.

Ok, but for what reasons?
My point was just that maybe it´s best to avoid Beths take on weaponry alltogether, seeing that they put in the AK-47 and bloody BFG-9000´s
Also, it would be a nice nod to the original creators with the F2 weapons.

And btw, this list is just from the top of my frustrated head, I´m not saying it couldn´t improve.

 

[Ausir]

FO2 had far too many modern, real-world weapons. AK-47 makes much more sense in Fallout than P90 or G11.

 

[Morbus]

I honestly don't get why people are griping about the name Dogmeat. It's not "the" Dogmeat. We don't even know if it is a dog name Dogmeat; we only know that's how it is identified by the game. It's a simple and fairly expected nod back to the old games.

A "nod"? WTF? Fallout looks like a generic First Person Shooter with a bunch of Easter Eggs/Referrences to Fallout and a bunch of other games/movies/books...

 

[Makagulfazel]

Weapons in FO2 were just as bad as in FO3, if for other reasons.

At least they were realistic - although you are correct to say they weren't fitting. I don't know if I would say they were "as bad."

The Fatman, flaming sword, HL2 gravity gun, Freeze gun; these all make me want to give a dead-leg to someone.

 

[aries369]

As for the girl with the 'special services'...I didn't really think that Bethesda had the guts to do this....especially after the controversy with GTAIV and the controversy with the -ahem- love scenes in Mass Effect...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the controversy about Mass Effect more having same-sex love scenes than sex scenes period? Also inter-species sex? Not that ghoul or mutant prostitutes wouldn't be interesting, but I don't see them as likely. Probably no male prostitutes either (yet I don't envision many people calling bullshit about that).

Sorry for sniping your post; just to avoid a rather lengthy quote.

As I remember the controversy about the sex in Mass Effect, is did start with the 'lesbian sex' talk, then moved to the 'you can have graphic sex with anyone', then..it sort of died down. Then the GTA IV controversy arose in which you can choose to have sex with a hooker, which gives you a small health boost - hey just like Fallout 3 does...

Anyway, some people will find anything to complain about...

 

[hailtotheking]

Weapons in FO2 were just as bad as in FO3, if for other reasons.

At least they were realistic - although you are correct to say they weren't fitting. I don't know if I would say they were "as bad."

The Fatman, flaming sword, HL2 gravity gun, Freeze gun; these all make me want to give a dead-leg to someone.

I actually like the idea of customized weapons, but only if they aren´t silly like a grav-gun or D&D like the flaming sword. Realistic upgrades for realistic weapons, like in F1/F2. Scoped guns, explosive ammo, add-on grenade launcher for rifles, poison on blades and shurikens, spiked clubs and the possibility to saw off shotguns.

And wouldn´t the possibility to use a light-post as lance for the robo-horse be great?

 

[BOS Man]

I honestly think I'd rather have a segway than a robo-horse. That would at least be only half a bastardization of the Fallout franchise.

One of the things I'll miss about Van Buren is that they actually tried to EXPAND on the skills, offering Persuasion and Deception rather than just one blanket speech skill. Science offered all sorts of different fields from Physics to Chemistry to Computers. I don't see a single new skill in that list (other than those that replace others, such as Explosives or Medicine). Van Buren offered so much more customization of character. Ah, c'est la vie.

you certainly wouldn´t be able to mod a lot of hard-wired stuff like the perspective, combat-system or A.I.

I don't know, have you seen what people have been able to do with Half-Life's Source engine? They've actually made it into a RTS with a top down perspective and interface and everything, kind of like Savage did. I think changing the perspective will be one of the top priories of modders once they get their hands on the game, tools or no, along with groin shots. The removal of groin shots because their effects were "redundant" just shows that Bethesda doesn't get it.

I have no problem with Dogmeat's name. I agree that it is a nod to the original character and the name would be kind of like an recurring name for different characters like Cid in the Final Fantasy games (not that I've played those in a dog's age). Personally though, I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to name him yourself, with Dogmeat as the default. Besides, there are so many better things to complain about.

Customizable weapons are fine with me as well, as it reminds me of Arcanum, which itself was made in the spirit of Fallout. Though I do take hailtotheking's stance on it. Flaming swords have no place in Fallout.

 

[Phil the Nuka-Cola Dude]

The only thing I'm hoping for is a good modding support so that people can actually turn the game in what it should have been.

This.


By modding the shit out of it (i.e. A few gigs of texture/LOD patches, FCOM, and the community patches that fix the thousands of bugs left in by beth.. not an exaggeration), you can actually turn oblivion into a non-frustrating enjoyable experience.

I'm sure the fans will do the same thing for Fo3. They've got 100x the talent at making models/textures and fixing bugs than beth ever will or care to.

*edit*

you certainly wouldn´t be able to mod a lot of hard-wired stuff like the perspective, combat-system or A.I.

Huh? There are hundreds of mods out there that alter/fix oblivion's broken AI and the way combat works.

The problem with altering the perspective isn't that its "hard wired" but that not only is there going to be a lot of missing textures and incomplete meshes in places the character can't normally see; but they would have to completely redo the way you interact with/pick up objects.

I wouldn't put it past the community to take on an endeavor like that though.

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

And again I ask "Why must fans fix a broken game when its know its like that from the start?"

Hell, from the sound it, it sometimes feels all the gamers want is the source code so that they can fill it in as they see fit.

 

[welsh]

FO2 had far too many modern, real-world weapons. AK-47 makes much more sense in Fallout than P90 or G11.

yep. The modern weapon system was definitely a bad choice for Fallout 2.

ANd to be honest, I like the idea that you can create your own weapons for Fallout 3.

 

[Bewitched]

NCR?

 

[Ausir]

NCR?

No, it's actually "City Liner". It's more visible in the Polish CD-Action magazine.

In Fallout 3 you are obviously forced to give a damn about your father. However In Fallout, you can give a damn or not about the water chip it is much more believable that your character would go on this quest because after-all, staying in the Vault and not doing so would mean that you would die anyways despite the risk.

Whereas in Fallout 3 it's like "You are a young man, your father is missing and even though YOU are the future and should be sheltered as such you still have to go risk your life anyways...Gbye." Now thats an overseer that needs to be fired.

When in reality what aged father nearing the end of his life would want his own child to risk their life to find them?

According to some previews, you are forced to leave regardless of whether you care about your father or not, since the Overseer thinks you helped him and is after you, so you have to run.

 

[SuAside]

yep. The modern weapon system was definitely a bad choice for Fallout 2.

i've always said that FO2 wouldve been better with generic guns.

true, FO1 did contain a few real & named guns, but they weren't many. and those used didn't seem to fall out of tune so badly.

ANd to be honest, I like the idea that you can create your own weapons for Fallout 3.

yeah, but the choice by beth kinda sucks. (from what we've heard)

 

[Makagulfazel]

I agree that the idea to make your own weapons within Fallout3 is a good idea. The implementation of several of the weapons, however, is completely dumb.

Just as several people here are saying, I would've enjoyed to customize my weapons in Fallout1/2, in a sort of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. type of way. Dismount a scope here, add a grenade launcher there. Hell, even making a weapon like the zip gun would have been neat with the right resources.

Bethesda's weapon designs have escaped the realm of imagination and wondered into the realm of silliness, however. I would have much rather have taken a modern weapon over a fatman or flaming sword or magazine-at-the-end-of-the-barrel shotgun.

 

[Tornadium]

While i compensate with alot of the points raised here, I just have to say the sheer incoherant hatred for this game is starting to get totally out of hand.

Yes most of us hate what Fallout is becoming. There are plenty of valid reasons for thinking so. However half of what you are using to bash the game is speculation.

Eg. Robot horse is NOT confirmed to be in game yet you are bashing FO3 for including it.

Another point i would like to raise.

The virtibirds bringing in troops....Why is that such a retarded idea? Someone give me a non "OMFG FALLOUT DIDN'T HAVE IT".

They are mobile deployment vehicles. Why shouldn't they be used for that purpose?

Remember not everything reported in these previews is true. More than half is bullshit. Meaning the game could be better or worse.

Personally the whole Fatman bullshit is going to be a huge downside. VATs...I highly doubt 1 shot = 1 AP, Probably just the previewer being fucking retarded.

My advice, bash FO3 for the valid reasons. There are plenty anyway.

 

[Slaughter Manslaught]

Bethesda's weapon designs have escaped the realm of imagination and wondered into the realm of silliness, however. I would have much rather have taken a modern weapon over a fatman or flaming sword or magazine-at-the-end-of-the-barrel shotgun.

Yeah, I agree with you. Fallout had cool guns like the CityKiller Combat Shotgun, the Assault Rifle, the 10mm SMG (a classic!), the Laser Rifle, the .233 Pistol and, as BFGs, the Turbo Plasma Rifle, the Gatling Laser, the Minigun and the Rocket Launcher. Fallout 2 gave us many real weapons, but they were well chosen. Pancor Jackhammer is very stylish, Pulse Weapons rock, Gauss Rifle is the king and Bozar is made of pure awesomeness.

Fallout 3? The ridiculous Fatman, the Gravity-Gun copy, the weird shotgun, the Mesmetron. The only one which appears to be 50s is the Freeze Gun.

 

[Ravager69]

Fatman, the Gravity-Gun copy, the weird shotgun, the Mesmetron. The only one which appears to be 50s is the Freeze Gun.

Honestly, Fallout 1&2 avoided all that that that Bethesda seems to feed us now, based on what we've seen in Bioshock. I want some manly firepower, not a gun that pisses on the enemy in diffrent colours and\or makes ice-cream out of them