Fallout 3 - Interview @ TeamXbox

Dhruin

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A pretty standard Fallout 3 conversation with Todd Howard at TeamXbox:
Fallout 3 is getting pretty close to being done…

Todd Howard: We hope. We’re told we need to be done.

What are you doing right now, just tweaks and bug fixes?

Todd Howard: Yeah, bug fixes. And making sure because we have the three platforms – 360, PS3 and PC – that, you know, it’s going to be consistent quality across the board. Because we might tweak one thing on one of the platforms, and it has to trickle through the other ones. So that’s kind of the stage we’re in; late play bugs, things like that. Because the game is so big, and there are so many ways to play it – at the end of the day, no matter how much time we put into it, you get it out there to millions of people and if somebody is gonna find something they will, and we’ve just got to keep it to something that is not that embarrassing.
...and the latest Inside the Vault looks at QA tester Same Bernstein.
More information.
 
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Teamxbox: "Will buying this game be “automatic” for people who liked Oblivion?"
Probably one of the best question I've seen in a F3 interview lately. Puts the dev in that tricky situation where he has to say it's "not Oblivion with guns" so as not to scare off Fallout fans and at the same time he has to tell Oblivion fans it's still everything they liked just in a different setting. And the latter is exactly what he does.

- Misread the other question, so my comment was just wrong, removed it, apologies -
 
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Now I'm not a Fallout purist, I'm not even registered at No Mutants Allowed, but he's the lead designer of F3, and he's apparently one of the guys who pushed Bethesda to actually buy that franchise, so shouldn't we expect a bit more accurate knowledge about Fallout 1's release year? 10 years ago that was Fallout 2. "More than 10 years" is vague. I mean ok maybe I'm just trying too hard to find something to criticize, but as the creative guy in charge of making a Fallout sequel wasn't he supposed to live in and breath and learn anything "Fallout" for the past 2-3 years of development?

I'm not seeing your problem with his remark. The last "real Fallout game" was Fallout 2, released in September 1998. That's "more than 10 years ago".

He's hardly being vague there. It just is what it is, he doesn't really have to pinpoints a release date.
 
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I'm not seeing your problem with his remark. The last "real Fallout game" was Fallout 2, released in September 1998. That's "more than 10 years ago".

He's hardly being vague there. It just is what it is, he doesn't really have to pinpoints a release date.

Ah indeed, I guess it's late and I'm tired, I misread the question, thought it was "when was Fallout first released".

Apologies...

For some reasons I'm not happy with the way Bethesda is making Fallout 3 (judging from the interviews/previews I've read and the 5 recently released gameplay videos) and now I'm one more biased person trying to find reasons to flame on Bethesda whenever possible.
 
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Ah indeed, I guess it's late and I'm tired, I misread the question, thought it was "when was Fallout first released".

Apologies?

For some reasons I'm not happy with the way Bethesda is making Fallout 3 (judging from the interviews/previews I've read and the 5 recently released gameplay videos) and now I'm one more biased person trying to find reasons to flame on Bethesda whenever possible.

You are not the only one unhappy about this game.

Like you i will not buy in the release date, i will wait reviews and opinions from different peoples, soo far i don't like what i see.
________
CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME FORUMS
 
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For some reasons I'm not happy with the way Bethesda is making Fallout 3 (judging from the interviews/previews I've read and the 5 recently released gameplay videos) and now I'm one more biased person trying to find reasons to flame on Bethesda whenever possible.

Eh.

Personally, I feel there's plenty to be critical of in Fallout 3 without nitpicking at meaningless stuff.
 
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Indeed.

To be honest, various interviews with the developers is the main reason why I'm still interested in Fallout 3. They actually do seem to care about the franchise - they may not be as big of a fan as the most hardcore fans, but they are (without doubt) huge fans of the series.

Most previews give me a fairly bad feeling (so many are focusing on "Oblivion with guns"), but most interviews make it sound a little interesting again.
 
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To be honest, various interviews with the developers is the main reason why I'm still interested in Fallout 3. They actually do seem to care about the franchise - they may not be as big of a fan as the most hardcore fans, but they are (without doubt) huge fans of the series.

Sure. Though it sometimes sounds like they loved the idea of the setting but found the p'n'p-emulation to be silly. Which is odd when you consider Fallout was a PnP emulation first and a PA retro-50s game second.

I'm not a big fan of interviews with Pete Hines and Todd Howard, PR-guy and producer that they are. It's just PR-spiel and often no that interesting. Emil Pagliarulo is obviously a smart guy working on the best product he can offer, tho'. Still happy he's the design lead.
 
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Sure. Though it sometimes sounds like they loved the idea of the setting but found the p'n'p-emulation to be silly. Which is odd when you consider Fallout was a PnP emulation first and a PA retro-50s game second.

Funny, for me it was the exact opposite -- a PA retro-50's game first, a PnP emulation, and not a very good one at that, a distant second. IOW, if the designers set out to do it the other way around, IMO they failed.

Which doesn't in any way invalidate your experience of the game, of course. It's just that some of us experienced it rather differently.
 
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Funny, for me it was the exact opposite -- a PA retro-50's game first, a PnP emulation, and not a very good one at that, a distant second.

I "was first" in a literal sense. Fallout started as Project GURPS, an idea by Tim Cain to bring GURPS to the PC as Gold Box did for D&D. The setting was not decided until later, they went through ideas of high fantasy (see the GURPS demo on Fallout CD) or - my favourite and Cain's - a time-travelling RPG. They would have gone with the time-travelling idea but it was too cost-intensive, which is when Campbell suggested making it post-apocalyptic and Boyarsky suggested making it retro-50s.

How people experience it is obviously more subjective. What counts for me is that Fallout 1/2 contained both, it was a post-apocalyptic retro-50s pen-and-paper emulation, whereas Fallout 3 contains only one, being a post-apocalyptic retro-50s FPSRPG.
 
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Thanks for the clarification. Interesting bit of historical background there.
 
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To me, the setting is top notch, but the gameplay? Not so much. Same as with PS:T really - the gameplay isn't anywhere near as smooth as that in BG2, but it doesn't need it either: The setting, story, characters (writing in general) is so solid it carries the whole game by itself.

Of course, this is all a matter of taste and perspective.
 
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Leonard Boyarsky's interview over at Gamebanshee regarding Diablo III is quite interesting.
http://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/diabloiii1.php

I find it funny to have Leonard's opinion on the matter. And it's quite striking when compared to Bethesda's decisions. After all Blizzard and Bethesda are in for rather similar exercises here: making the 3rd installment of a 2d isometric series.

I intentionally replaced "Diablo" with "Fallout" to create a weird fiction : Boyarsky working on Fallout 3 and explaining why he chose to stick to isometric while switching to 3D ;-)

GB: Why was the decision made to keep the isometric viewpoint of the original Fallouts and was there ever any doubt or discussion on using the same camera scheme in today's market? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using an isometric viewpoint for a game like Fallout III?
Leonard: There was never any question that we'd be using the isometric view. The advantages for this camera angle are many: It is the established camera angle for the series; we want our game to expand and improve on the classic Fallout feel, which is irrevocably tied to isometric gameplay; and we are able to create art specifically for that camera angle, which allows us to place polygons and textures strategically, so our game looks great and highly detailed while also running well on a wide range of systems. I suppose one possible disadvantage is that it is harder to involve the player on an emotional level for scripted scenes, because the characters are small and aren't in the player's face like they are from other camera angles -- but that's what we have our cinematics for.

GB: Do you think the switch to a fully 3D engine was absolutely necessary? What challenges, limitations, and opportunities does the switch from 2D to 3D present?
Leonard: The switch was absolutely necessary for us to make the game we wanted to make. Current technology is geared towards 3D optimization, so we get to use that power, which in turn allows us to have better animations, more detailed art, and better gameplay because of things like physics. The main challenge is to retain the feel of the classic Fallout games while expanding into 3D.
 
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Nice interview link. I had no idea leonard was working on D3. I retried d2 about a week ago, and I just don't get it. I don't like anything about it and can't see why it was so popular. But, Leonard is a guy who deserves my money and blind faith, so i guess D3 has just gone from my never buy list to pre-order. I can't see me liking it, but Leonard helped make a good chunk of my favorites, so if anyone can make a Diablo game playable, he's one of the few who could.

P.s. I like WoW, and i have nothing against Blizzard. I think they are a quality company that puts out games they love and continiue to love years after release. It must be nice for Leonard to work for a business that you know is going to be around for years and years.
 
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