Todd answers 25 questions

[syllogz]

So while you're in the process of actually pulling the trigger at someone, if someone else is hitting you say from behind, they do it really slowly, and if they do connect, the damage is minimal so that you don't sit there and watch the playback while your character is being beaten to death by someone.

that's my point.

they altered gameplay for the sole purpose of making it 'cool looking'.

On the other hand, they implemented all kinds of separate timings (for player, enemy and environment), so with a CS it might be moddable into something closer to TB.

I'm not good at coding, but it might be possible to separate the actions of the player and enemies with 'if ... then' while keeping the surroundings frozen for a turn, and turning off the VATS cinematic.
The only problem is that it seems that you can only shoot in VATS (no movement, no inventory check), and this may be hard-coded??

Otherwise, the Q&A was okay, promising answers, with the occasional no answer at all and dodging the question.

 

[Sander]

On the other hand, they implemented all kinds of separate timings (for player, enemy and environment), so with a CS it might be moddable into something closer to TB.

I'm not good at coding, but it might be possible to separate the actions of the player and enemies with 'if ... then' while keeping the surroundings frozen for a turn, and turning off the VATS cinematic.
The only problem is that it seems that you can only shoot in VATS (no movement, no inventory check), and this may be hard-coded??

Even if you could seperate enemy and player 'turns', you'd also need to alter the AI to be able to handle turn-based combat, the interface, the AP system, the actions you can take in VATS etc. etc. etc.

 

[Bunkermensch]

On the other hand, they implemented all kinds of separate timings (for player, enemy and environment), so with a CS it might be moddable into something closer to TB.

I'm not good at coding, but it might be possible to separate the actions of the player and enemies with 'if ... then' while keeping the surroundings frozen for a turn, and turning off the VATS cinematic.
The only problem is that it seems that you can only shoot in VATS (no movement, no inventory check), and this may be hard-coded??

Even if you could seperate enemy and player 'turns', you'd also need to alter the AI to be able to handle turn-based combat, the interface, the AP system, the actions you can take in VATS etc. etc. etc.

Indeed, it might be easier to build a whole new game. =)

 

[Bezimek]

On the other hand, they implemented all kinds of separate timings (for player, enemy and environment), so with a CS it might be moddable into something closer to TB.

I'm not good at coding, but it might be possible to separate the actions of the player and enemies with 'if ... then' while keeping the surroundings frozen for a turn, and turning off the VATS cinematic.
The only problem is that it seems that you can only shoot in VATS (no movement, no inventory check), and this may be hard-coded??

Even if you could seperate enemy and player 'turns', you'd also need to alter the AI to be able to handle turn-based combat, the interface, the AP system, the actions you can take in VATS etc. etc. etc.

I think that it could be done. Somebody add lovemaking to Morrowind (animation etc), another new level system (exp base). It will cost a lof of work but IMHO it can be done.

Otherwise, the Q&A was okay, promising answers, with the occasional no answer at all and dodging the question.

Yes in Fallout 3 ( if Emil and Peter not lie) will be many interesting feature known from F1/2 and other games

Indeed, it might be easier to build a whole new game. =)

IMHO Morrowind and Oblivon with players mods are whole new games

 

[Dracon M'Alkir]

but a nightmare for anyone that isn't into the entire Xbox/Halo ideology.

What the hell is the "Halo ideology" and what does it have to do with Bethesda's take on Fallout 3?

God, just because Halo has become immensely popular, and has tons of stupid jerks who like to play it on Xbox Live while shouting obscenities in their 12 year-old prepubescent voices, it's become everyone's whipping boy, as though it's responsible for every poor game design decision.

Pete Hines commented on how Todd and a few others were playing games such as Call of Duty and Halo for inspiration. They specifically mentioned those two titles. The purpose was for the "gameplay".

It's dug somewhere in an interview/preview/other material somewhere like three to four weeks back. Take a look and you'll see that I'm right.

It doesn't help much that Todd Howard, when describing his house told everyone his living room consists of a couch, an HDTV and an Xbox 360. He also was playtesting Oblivion on the Xbox, the entire time. (Back before Oblivion was released, I lurked the Beth forums alot, was banned for having an opinion that was different than the collective's).

 

[Kyuu]

Pete Hines commented on how Todd and a few others were playing games such as Call of Duty and Halo for inspiration. They specifically mentioned those two titles. The purpose was for the "gameplay".

Ah yeah, I remember that now that you mention it. My apologies for the sorta hostile response. Of course it's ridiculous to use action-FPSs as an inspiration for the combat of an RPG.

 

[Paladin Solo]

IMHO Morrowind and Oblivon with players mods are whole new games

They were also games that had a construction set which was released.

 

[Per]

I think if we’re relying on text to describe how something looks, sounds, etc, then we screwed up not having that come across naturally with what the player is seeing. It annoys me whenever we have to resort to describing something

I'll just note my extreme disagreeance with this sentiment.

 

[TheVaultKeeper]

IMHO Morrowind and Oblivon with players mods are whole new games

They were also games that had a construction set which was released.

Yes - there are some very good mod creators out there for Oblivion (Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul is probably the biggest and most impressive mod) so if FO3 is made anything like Oblivion (which has been more than hinted at) these guys might know exactly how to handle all the tools by now...

Of course - that might mean we end up with... not "Oblivion with guns" but a modded "Fallout 3 with spells".... oh dear... well - we just have to wait and see about that one...

Also - because of the fairly advanced graphics it's much harder to create any new content for the Oblivion engine than to "just" mod it. And the same will then of course most likely go for FO3... unless Bethesda releases some sort of world, and character, builder... but that's pretty unlikely knowing Bethesda....

 

[Morbus]

Yes - there are some very good mod creators out there for Oblivion (Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul is probably the biggest and most impressive mod) so if FO3 is made anything like Oblivion (which has been more than hinted at) these guys might know exactly how to handle all the tools by now...

Oscuro's in NO WAY a Fallout fan, nor does he know how to handle a game like Fallout (the true one). Don't count on him for modding Fallout, or on anyone from Oblivion's modding community for that matter.

 

[Dracon M'Alkir]

Yes - there are some very good mod creators out there for Oblivion (Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul is probably the biggest and most impressive mod) so if FO3 is made anything like Oblivion (which has been more than hinted at) these guys might know exactly how to handle all the tools by now...

Oscuro's in NO WAY a Fallout fan, nor does he know how to handle a game like Fallout (the true one). Don't count on him for modding Fallout, or on anyone from Oblivion's modding community for that matter.

We've still got a very reliable team of modders available to our disposal. Take Killap for example. He will no doubt immediately spend as much time as possible learning the new construction kit that's available for Fallout 3 (or unavailable, who knows); to try to hack the crap out of it. Then there's also plenty of others that lurk around the Fallout modding forums and are working on their own projects. Sztrupy and mvBarricuda from the FIFE/IanOut projects, the people working on Afterfall, etc, etc.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Let's not forget Timeslip, though. I don't know if he did modding for Oblivion, but he comes from the Elder Scrolls fan-base and he did some amazing things hacking both Fallout games.

 

[zioburosky13]

That's not the issue. Fallout is about P&P feel. So there HAS to be some sort of dungeon master or game master. No description box, no master. Besides, Ron Perlman, the game master, at the beginning of the game, DOESN'T know the player will leave the vault (read the intro), so this proves bethesda completely missed the point. Completely and utterly missed it.

With F3 being a default fps game, I doubt the information box we seen in F1 and F2 will still exist. Because of the viewing angle, fps always lead to 'what you see is what you get' part.
I believe text description is is fun to read and also it's a sign of how intelligent & humorous the writer is.

 

[Fleisch]

Todd seemed to have the impression that the text descriptions in Fallout were only there because you couldn't see the "4-pixel high chairs", not to add flavor and humor to the game. The humor that they claimed they recognized was an important part of the Fallout franchise?

So I guess if teh grafix are shiny enough, they will automatically make me think of something witty, and that's where the humor comes from? I can taste the toilet water already, because of the shiny reflections! Oh yeah, I forgot -- the humor in the game comes from obscenities on signs, insults, and watching exploding heads in VATS. In fact, the flying eyeballs are so funny that we have to stop time in our FPS so you can really enjoy it.

 

[WarmMachineME]

14. You have talked a lot about choices and consequences in the quest design. Are you aiming for immediate feedback, or long term (and possibly unforeseeable) consequences? In addition to moral choices, will different characters be able to tackle tasks using their different skill sets? [GhanBuriG]

It’s a bit of both, overall I think the player needs something immediate, or they don’t know if they actually accomplished anything, or felt what they just did had any meaning whatsoever. The longer term stuff is great to surprise the player with, whether it’s positive or negative, but if it’s a surprise, you need to be careful, because that can be frustrating, so you give the player another route, or simply treat the consequence as a flavor thing, and not a game-changing thing.

This and the other question in the Choices and Consequences segment make me think of what is, in my opinion, a sore point among more and more modern games in general as well as Fallout 3 in particular.

We're all familiar with the experience in Fallout past of saying something stupid and suddenly having everyone nearby with a gun shooting at you. Or making a decision, finding out later that it had rather serious consequences. Ironically enough, my first experience of this was the first time I killed some kid. I found out a little later I was now labeled a child killer, and various people's attitudes toward me changed. Choosing whether or not to be a slaver is another example.

But I've seen mentioned in a number of interviews of developers removing a feature or content because it wasn't "fun" or was "frustrating." There's also bunch of hype about balancing "gameplay and realism." Often it's a rather unique sounding feature that gets the axe for this rather obscure reason.

Sometimes it's a legitimately obtuse item that warrants removal, but I think many developers have stepped in the pothole of equating "fun" with "easy."

 

[Briosafreak]

but I think many developers have stepped in the pothole of equating "fun" with "easy."

That's a concern I share too.

 

[13pm]

everyone's so happy about the ghouls, but... we've seen the supermutants. just hope that Bethesda's shitty concept artists (or who's responsible for creatures' look) won't screw up these ones too.

I'm very disappointed about the VATS stuff, what's now bothering me is how stimpaks are used, as far as you don't spend APs for them.

Good to hear about the followers.

other stuff is just Todd's promises again. and I don't believe him.

 

[FeelTheRads]

I'm very disappointed about the VATS stuff, what's now bothering me is how stimpaks are used, as far as you don't spend APs for them.

Wait, I don't get this. Stimpacks didn't use action points in the other Fallout games either. Of course, it cost you action points to access the inventory, but then you could stuff as many stimpacks as you'd like in you.
In fact, no action done inside the inventory cost you action points, if I remember correctly.

 

[quietfanatic]

Which was a flaw in my mind. Did take AP's in FOT, which makes sense. I'm not clear on what system FO3 will use, as I don't recall any good evidence either way.

 

[13pm]

Wait, I don't get this. Stimpacks didn't use action points in the other Fallout games either. Of course, it cost you action points to access the inventory, but then you could stuff as many stimpacks as you'd like in you.

that was one way to use stimpaks, it costed you 3 APs without perk that reduced the cost of accessing the inventory. The other way was to select a character (you or any NPC), hold a button to access menu, then click an inventory icon and then click a stimpak or other usable item. this way it costed 2 APs. so if you did't want to use more than 1 stimpak at a time or wanted to heal any NPC, it was a better way.
still you could use stimpaks during your combat turn and it costed you APs.

EDIT: By the way, I realised that without a text box it will be hard to implement showing how many HP your party members have, so I assume that healing friendly NPCs is not an option.