Fallout: New Vegas - Interview Mini Roundup

There's a couple of interviews and interview snippets to finish yesterday's preview floods.
MTV has some quick comments from Josh Sawyer:

"One of the things we're focusing on with 'New Vegas,' is that this is a post-post-apocalyptic society. Governments have formed and have congress. There are large slaver armies and big merchant caravans."

The differences between the two worlds aren't just a matter of increased infrastructure, though. Sawyer described the world as "much more political." "'Fallout 3' presented the Enclave as very very bad, and the Brotherhood of Steel as very good in opposition to the Enclave," he explained. "In 'New Vegas' we're presenting the landscape a bit differently. You might think the [New California Republic] is purely good, but they're not purely good. And you may think Caesar's Legion is purely bad, but they're not purely bad."

A couple of comments from Feargus at Joystiq:

You know, New Vegas is a story we came up. It's all our own characters. It's a bunch of new weapons. It's a whole new part of the world. I mean, it has "Fallout" on it, and we are very faithful to the canon and what's come before, but we can do whatever we want. So, I mean, at that point, it's almost like it's an original.

Also at Joystiq, a general Bethsoft interview, which includes their other games.
…and the Bethblog has a profile on J.E. Sawyer:

What would you say is your personal favorite game of all time?
I have three all-time favorites: the original Pool of Radiance, Darklands, and the original Fallout. All have their own flaws and idiosyncrasies, but those are the three that have drawn me in more than any others. They’re also the ones that I can go back to without feeling like they’ve aged badly.

More information.

I'm really looking forward to this. It's the closest yet to the Bioware/Bethesda fusion I've been hoping for. With Bethesda's sandbox game engine they pretty much can't go for the "it's not a game it's a narrative with player interaction" approach, even if they wanted to. But these guys have excellent story-telling credentials in their own right, so I'm confident they can can make a more compelling and just plain charming game than Fallout 3. It looks like they've already improved upon the graphics - especially the models and the textures - which is another thing they do well.

I'm hoping they get it right. I'd love to see more games using Bethesda's technology that were more interesting and fun to play than Bethesda's games usually are.

Originally Posted by CraigCWB
It looks like they've already improved upon the graphics - especially the models and the textures - which is another thing they do well.

I'm hoping they get it right. I'd love to see more games using Bethesda's technology that were more interesting and fun to play than Bethesda's games usually are.

I don't care for visuals… If characters were boxes and circles I'd still play it if:
the game has a story.

Bethesda's games have a trend of boredom, the newer the game, more boring it gets.

From the screens so far, i'd say they've done a worse job with the artwork, muted / desaturated colors mixed with some extremely colorful details, looks really bad and tasteless imo. Also some strange/ugly design choices, like the cartoon face on the robots they show in one screen, doesnt fit in well.. Obsidian arent well known for their graphics though (see Alpha Protocol, for example which looks horrible for a 2010 game..)

Personally i think graphics(the artwork) is very important in games, just like i enjoy good photo in movies, it really makes a big difference.. Unfortunately not their strong side, a real waste imo.

I actually found the cartoonish faces really Fallout-y and didn't find the art direction tasteless, though the graphics could be improved.
Also, 'horrible' seems a tad excessive to me, but then again, I don't play game for their graphics (if I did I would only play shooter and occasional really high-budget cookie-cutter games like Assassin's Creed).

Originally Posted by WorstUsernameEver
I actually found the cartoonish faces really Fallout-y

They are fallout-y, the kind of artwork you would expect for their little funny "info commercial" cartoon pics/movies that they have. There has always been a line between the dark FO tone that you have in-game and the opposite cartoonish/funny side of FO that is used for other parts as a nice balance between the two. Joining them in-game is tasteless. Why would the robots have a funny cartoon face, it really doesnt fit the in-game dark world of FO, at all.

, though the graphics could be improved.
Also, 'horrible' seems a tad excessive to me, but then again, I don't play game for their graphics (if I did I would only play shooter and occasional really high-budget cookie-cutter games like Assassin's Creed).

I doubt anyone is playing games _just_ for the graphics.. would be kind of paradoxal since movies, still, looks way better than games..

Originally Posted by bemushroomed
They are fallout-y, the kind of artwork you would expect for their little funny "info commercial" cartoon pics/movies that they have. There has always been a line between the dark FO tone that you have in-game and the opposite cartoonish/funny side of FO that is used for other parts as a nice balance between the two. Joining them in-game is tasteless. Why would the robots have a funny cartoon face, it really doesnt fit the in-game dark world of FO, at all.
.

You mean, like Super Mutants with straps on their face, Robobrains, soldiers in clunky 50's power armor and.. should I go on?
Fallout is post-apocalyptic, but the backdrop of the setting is very much campy.
It just was a bit less noticeable with the isometric graphics.

Well, consider Obsidian (then Black Isle) developed the original setting of Fallout, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

Well, I think they've got a good track record improving the graphics when they do sequels using other people's engines. At least, they've always managed to improve on Bioware's graphics but I'll admit that isn't hard to do. Bioware is in desperate need of a new art director, or at least a new 3D modeler. They've been cranking out the same oddly mis-shapen and just plain weird looking models since NWN. It'll be harder to top Bethesda, but I like what I've seen so far. I'm looking mostly at the armor because I didn't like the way Bethesda did that in FO3 at all. Guns, too. The guns in FO3 were… lame.

Oh, and I absolutely DO care about graphics. Sue me

Originally Posted by WorstUsernameEver
You mean, like Super Mutants with straps on their face, Robobrains, soldiers in clunky 50's power armor and.. should I go on?
Fallout is post-apocalyptic, but the backdrop of the setting is very much campy.

Those things are still fitting very much with the 50's post apolcalypse atmosphere, a funny cartoon face on a robots monitor though, not so much.. I really don't like its over-the-top colorful interface on the front either, goes really bad with the rest of the bleak colors in the game, looks out of place just like the cartoon face.

Originally Posted by bemushroomed
Those things are still fitting very much with the 50's post apolcalypse atmosphere, a funny cartoon face on a robots monitor though, not so much.. I really don't like its over-the-top colorful interface on the front either, goes really bad with the rest of the bleak colors in the game, looks out of place just like the cartoon face.

Reason as for why it doesn't fit? Because you say so?

I think i explained the reason why I didn't like it, yes. I'm not forcing anyone to agree am i (not that it in any way would be possible anyways). It doesnt fit in FO and it wouldnt fit in a "scary" 50's sci-fi movie either (which so far has been the main inspiration for the design in previous titles..).

Which screens are you guys talking about specifically? Can you link to them?

JDR:


Robots and oversaturated "patch" on arm.

Oversaturated flag (compare to the bleak colors in the rest of the scene)..

I might be brainwashed from reading / watching a lot about colors for the latest months though but to me it looks out of place, at least in those screens

Originally Posted by bemushroomed
It doesnt fit in FO and it wouldnt fit in a "scary" 50's sci-fi movie either (which so far has been the main inspiration for the design in previous titles..).

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Handy

This too was 'scary'?
Admit it, you were wrong.

Well I don't have a problem with the flag, but I agree that the 'toon' image on the robots looks ridiculous.

Originally Posted by WorstUsernameEver
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Handy

This too was 'scary'?
Admit it, you were wrong.

Mr Handy is a household robot, he's not supposed to be "scary" really, but he'd make the perfect role of the kind of robot that is overly calm and nice (he's too nice!) and kills you in your sleep when you least expect it There's in fact a killer Mr Handy in FO3..

Also, Mr. Gutsy is just an upgraded version of it, so i don't think it's a robot to be laughed at, they definetely wouldnt in the 50's! The robot with the cartoon face on the other hand, they'd both point AND laugh (+ wonder from which Charlie Chaplin movie he'd escaped from ).

Their designers must suffer hard from sleep deprivation:

http://piclair.com/data/cc0sw.jpg

Originally Posted by bemushroomed
JDR:


Robots and oversaturated "patch" on arm.

Oversaturated flag (compare to the bleak colors in the rest of the scene)..

I might be brainwashed from reading / watching a lot about colors for the latest months though but to me it looks out of place, at least in those screens

They do look somewhat out of place in these screens.
Nevertheless adding patches of color to what is essentially an almost colorless pallet might eventually work nicely in the game itself. (although it does seem a lot more colorful than FO3 which might negate the effect.)

They work great on pure grayscale!
(Check out these screens from the Lost Crown and tell me they're not awesome :
The
Lost
Crown
Rocks!!

Like The Saboteur (looks a lot nice than Lost Crown, imo). Not a big fan of that, to lose immersion for something more stylish, like an MTV music video where the producer plays with the video mixer. Not my cup of tea.