The best radio man in Fallout series?

Which one is better radio man?

  • 3 Dog

    Votes: 3 8.3%

  • Mr. New Vegas

    Votes: 25 69.4%

  • John Henry Eden

    Votes: 2 5.6%

  • Tabitha

    Votes: 6 16.7%

  • Travis

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    36
Ben Soto said:
I haven't played Baldur's Gate or Planescape Torment in a while, but Deus Ex had pretty decent ambience. The problem I have is that I don't like the ambience in Fallout. It just sucks IMHO. And, yeah, if there's been an improvement made on future games, I'll point it out.
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I honestly don't get how you can not like the soundtrack to the first 2 Fallout games. I mean, listen to this shit:

Tell me that doesn't immediatly establish an atmosphere of a sinister force, ready to take over the Wasteland.

Tell me this doesn't send shivers down your spine.

Every original soundtrack composed for the first 2 games establishes such an atmosphere, tells you immediatly what kind of place your stepping in to, and exactly what vibes you should be getting from it. It's one of the most perfectly done parts of the game.
 
Jogre said:
Still have no idea what you mean.

I love listening to Fallout soundtracks. I even occasionally listen to them while writing essays and shit.
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You're obviously not hearing me, so I'll explain slowly.

I, Ben, find the experience of listening to the ambient music in Fallout 1 and 2 to be an unpleasant one.
 
Ben Soto said:
IIRC, J.E. Sawyer or somebody else at Obsidian said that they gave Zur very little direction apart from "you know Fallout 3's OST? Yeah, do that."
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Looking at the interview here I think that's not the case at all.
Joshua Sawyer said:
I know you can't talk much about the music for New Vegas because it's still being licensed, but the music in Fallout 3 had that Word War II era, big band vibe. Are you putting together a similar, thematic soundtrack for New Vegas in the sense that it recreates the sounds of Vegas in the '50s?

Well, it's interesting because a lot of the music that was involved in Fallout 3 was '30s or '40s music; and there was a sort of goofy upbeatness to it. A lot of the pieces had a very super-cheerful vibe. The music of the late '50s, which is when Vegas started to really become a place that anyone cared about -- that era was a little bit different in terms of the Rat Pack vibe, and so I think we said in the interview session we are going for something that is a later shift.

It's still '50s but it's late '50s. And in addition to the crooner style music we also want to add in some bluegrass and country music from the '40s and '50s as well, because that's a pretty interesting era for our country.
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And seriously, go listen to this

And then compare it to the one shared by Valdetiosi above and tell me which one managed to invoke the corresponding feeling and atmosphere. This one sounds like some epic-fantasy tier shit that fit in a TES game instead of Fallout, while the one shared by Val definitely fit a post-post-post apocalyptic Mojave or at least goes well with some of the wild west element it had going. Some parts of that 3's ambient music was reused in NV's but you know what I mean.
 
I don't think I ever really listened to any of the radio stations in any of the Fallout games. The 50's music feels out of place, I don't care about the DJs, and generally I prefer the ambient music. Props to NV for bringing back some of the classic ambient tracks.
And yes, I also sometimes listen to the Fallout soundtrack outside the game. It's good ambient music.
 
@Jogre Honestly, I can't seem to understand how someone could dislike the OST for the original games. All the music for all the locations fits so perfectly, its unforgettable. One of my personal favorites would have to be the music that plays in the Fallout 1 Khan's Camp, its so perfect for them.
 
Mr. New Vegas takes the cake--charming dude and much more objective than that annoyingly self-righteous buffoon Three Dog.

Tabitha and Eden are also entertaining; can't comment on Travis since I haven't played FO4.
 
Ben Soto said:
You're obviously not hearing me, so I'll explain slowly.

I, Ben, find the experience of listening to the ambient music in Fallout 1 and 2 to be an unpleasant one.
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As it should be. The Wasteland is not happy rainbows, lollypops and ring a' rings. Dem's gritty an' unnerving, danger and death everywhere. The original Soundtrack is more than perfectly fitting for that!

And talking about the radio stations, I also only listen to the radios in-the-world or maybe when doing a crafting/building session (mostly because them dang audio threading bugs which tend to crash on new cells after a while when playing the Pipboy Radio >.<)
Mr. New Vegas is simply the best of the commentator bunch and to be frank, quite everyone is good for their characters (and be they as obnoxious as Three-Effing-Dog, which noone else luckyly is).
 
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Matt Drax said:
As it should be. The Wasteland is not happy rainbows, lollypops and ring a' rings. Dem's gritty an' unnerving, danger and death everywhere. The original Soundtrack is more than perfectly fitting for that!
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If I'm going to be having a soundtrack blasted into my brain for twenty hours, I want it to be... y'know... good. It's great for atmosphere, but as music? Ugh.
 
Ben Soto said:
If I'm going to be having a soundtrack blasted into my brain for twenty hours, I want it to be... y'know... good. It's great for atmosphere, but as music? Ugh.
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Well there lies your problem.

The soundtrack of FO1 & 2 really describes the place, when you learn their backstories. The Vats of Goo at Mariposa Base, Metallic Monks at BOS base, Acolytes of New God at Catherdal. It's not supposed to be melodic like in other games.

The more I think of it, the more you like your OST if it would be like in JRPG. Nothing wrong with it, but this is not the kind of game and wouldn't fit in the place of apocalyptic wasteland.
 
Well, it's supposed to be atmosphere, not music. Never really thought of it as music, except the tune on the map screen.
I always liked Acolytes of a new God.

Got a nice dark and sinister feel to it.
 
Ben Soto said:
You know, if you like that, great. More power to you. I simply don't. It's unpleasant to listen to and hurts my enjoyment of the game overall.
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Well, I'm sure we now get you point Ben. You do not enjoy the Original game soundtracks. No one is holding that against you, but you are just reinforcing your own point without joining in on any discussion to them.

Most people are pointing out whether or not they fit with a specific theme or simply want to share. You are only sharing your dislike of it. Which I personally have no issue with, but would you be so kind to join in the discussion and contemplate it place and purpose?

In some games the sound track is supposed to be "bad" to use a general term that doesn't describe anything at all. However if you consider the context there could be a very good reason it is designed that way. Take a game like Silent Hill that relied very heavily on ambiance and audio cues to inform the player of variables in their environment.

While some if it is to "unnerve" the player, this is done to support the overall theme of the game. Can you imagine walking through Navarro while Ice Cream truck music is playing in the back ground? It would be kind weird and funny at first but considering the characters and how serious they take themselves and their duties music from an ice cream truck would not be welcomed.

However give the audio a serious tone, with sounds that alert the player to possible danger and you have a completely different feel to the game.
 
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Mr. New Vegas all the way for his irresistible charm with Mojave Radio right behind providing ambience when playing from settlement's radios.

No opinion on 3 Dog since I killed him on my first playthrough because he comes off as self-righteous and is a borderline stalker.

Pre-Confidence Man Travis is fun and his side-quest actually has impact upon completing. Too bad he's in a shit game :(
 
I love the ambient music of the old games and often listen to them when not playing. The radio music of the later ones is fine, but not my preferred tone for the game, outside of a casino or on the strip or something. And the later games' ambient music isn't as good as 1 and 2's.

That said Enclave radio is the best.
 
Einhanderc7 said:
Well, I'm sure we now get you point Ben. You do not enjoy the Original game soundtracks. No one is holding that against you, but you are just reinforcing your own point without joining in on any discussion to them.

Most people are pointing out whether or not they fit with a specific theme or simply want to share. You are only sharing your dislike of it. Which I personally have no issue with, but would you be so kind to join in the discussion and contemplate it place and purpose?

In some games the sound track is supposed to be "bad" to use a general term that doesn't describe anything at all. However if you consider the context there could be a very good reason it is designed that way. Take a game like Silent Hill that relied very heavily on ambiance and audio cues to inform the player of variables in their environment.

While some if it is to "unnerve" the player, this is done to support the overall theme of the game. Can you imagine walking through Navarro while Ice Cream truck music is playing in the back ground? It would be kind weird and funny at first but considering the characters and how serious they take themselves and their duties music from an ice cream truck would not be welcomed.

However give the audio a serious tone, with sounds that alert the player to possible danger and you have a completely different feel to the game.
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I think your Silent Hill example kinda shows off one of the problems I have with the music. Often, the music sounds like it's trying to be a horror game or, at the very least, creepy. That's the not the kind of atmosphere I expect out of Fallout. I know that sounds a little stupid, but Fallout is not and should never be a horror game. The kind of horror you're supposed to get is existential dread, not getting actually scared. There are creepy moments (I.E. the encounter with the Master) but overall, that's not quite what I expect or want.

As for Navarro, no, I don't expect ice cream truck music. If anything, I'd actually expect patriotic music (think Enclave Radio) to be blaring over the loudspeakers.
 
Ben Soto said:
I think your Silent Hill example kinda shows off one of the problems I have with the music. Often, the music sounds like it's trying to be a horror game or, at the very least, creepy. That's the not the kind of atmosphere I expect out of Fallout. I know that sounds a little stupid, but Fallout is not and should never be a horror game. The kind of horror you're supposed to get is existential dread, not getting actually scared. There are creepy moments (I.E. the encounter with the Master) but overall, that's not quite what I expect or want.

As for Navarro, no, I don't expect ice cream truck music. If anything, I'd actually expect patriotic music (think Enclave Radio) to be blaring over the loudspeakers.
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Classic Fallout games OST does not try to be horror at all. It is dark sometimes but not horror, I would say it is desolated.
It fits perfectly with the areas where it is placed. Some areas are a bit creepy and so the music sounds a bit creepy too, but creepy is very different from horror.

For example, no Fallout music ever scared or frightened me or even close, but I remember music in other games actually make me uncomfortable and a bit on edge (which no Fallout music ever did to me either) and even scared a bit. I think there was a music like that in the PSX game Nightmare Creatures or Nightmare Creatures 2 or something.
 
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