Project Van Buren - Is being resurrected

HiddenX

The Elder Spy
Staff Member
Original Sin Donor
Original Sin 2 Donor
Joined
October 18, 2006
Messages
19,818
Location
Germany
PC Gamer reports that the canceled Fallout 3 version "Van Buren" will be completed by Adam Lacko:

Canceled Fallout RPG from 2003 is being resurrected

Fallout 3 was supposed to be an isometric RPG.

Black Isle Studios' planned version of Fallout 3, codenamed "Van Buren," was canceled in 2003, followed shortly by the studio's dissolution. It remains a great "what-if" of gaming. The financial decline of parent studio Interplay was likely terminal by this point--the subgenre of complex, isometric RPGs reached the nadir of their popularity in the early 2000s, going dormant until their revival with Pillars of Eternity and Divinity. While there was no saving Black Isle itself, the project they were working on has captured Fallout fans' imaginations over the years.

A tech demo and 700-page design document leaked in 2007 and served as a competing vision to license-owner Bethesda's official Fallout 3. Van Buren looks like a weird, cool, expansive, and reactive roleplaying game. It doesn't hurt that much of the setting and lore formed the basis of the much-beloved New Vegas.

Enter game developer Adam Lacko and his Project Van Buren. Since 2017, Lacko has been building off the aforementioned tech demo and design document to create a complete version of Van Buren in the Unity engine, to be released for free. Lacko has been writing much of the project's code himself, as well as consulting with former members of Black Isle. In Lacko's own words, "Project Van Buren aims to recapture and preserve this visual presentation to the pettiest detail, staying true with the intended course of its original makers."

[...]
Thanks Henriquejr!

More information.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
19,818
Location
Germany
Sniff…I smell a cease and desist letter from Bethesda lawyers incoming.:biggrin:
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,185
Location
Spudlandia
Yeah, I remember when that fanmade KotOR remake was shut down. The best way to go about these projects might be to stay mum about them until they're finished, release them as a surprise, then go "Oh, wasn't I supposed to do that? I'll take it down, of course, but nothing I can do about copies people have saved, unfortunately."
 
Joined
Jul 12, 2019
Messages
106
Sniff…I smell a cease and desist letter from Bethesda lawyers incoming.:biggrin:

You smell too much!! :p :p :p

Yeah I got you, and that's why I'd take the route pinpointed by fellow member Gwydden above.
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
3,753
Location
Brasil
Sniff…I smell a cease and desist letter from Bethesda lawyers incoming.:biggrin:
The gameplay pictures shown in the article are credited to both Bethesda and Adam Lacko, so it seems like PC-Gamer can smell it to!
 
Joined
Oct 8, 2018
Messages
221
The guy lives in Slovakia, so I question how much he'd care about a cease and desist letter.


The Cold War is over ;) . Slovakia is a part of the EU and one of the rather prosperous former Warsaw pact countries. Same goes for Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and the Baltic states who have all come a long way in recent years.
Romania and Bulgaria are the EU countries that need to catch up the most but even in those countries you would probably be able to enforce a C&D because of international legal agreements simply because they are part of the EU.

So... the Codex peasants would be well advised to hold off celebrating The Real Fallout 3 until it is safe to assume that Bethesda (or now Microsoft) won't intervene :biggrin: .
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
3,201
The Cold War is over ;) . Slovakia is a part of the EU and one of the rather prosperous former Warsaw pact countries. Same goes for Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and the Baltic states who have all come a long way in recent years.
Romania and Bulgaria are the EU countries that need to catch up the most but even in those countries you would probably be able to enforce a C&D because of international legal agreements simply because they are part of the EU.

So… the Codex peasants would be well advised to hold off celebrating The Real Fallout 3 until it is safe to assume that Bethesda (or now Microsoft) won't intervene :biggrin: .

I kind of doubt they're going to extradite the guy over something like this. :)

My point was, there really isn't that much they can do. Send him a scary letter and then try to sue him if he goes through with it. I suppose whether or not he'd be worried about that depends on how much he has to lose.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,138
Location
Florida, US
The Fallout franchise is registered as an IP owned by Bethesda (Microsoft) in the EU, so Bethesda can easily get the Slovakian authorities to summon him to some court.
Not that I would want to, I’d love to see the game released, even if a lot of familiar Fallout names would have to change in order for it to go through. The Brotherhood of Metal, anyway?!
 
Joined
Oct 8, 2018
Messages
221
I kind of doubt they're going to extradite the guy over something like this. :)


Extradite? Bethesda/Microsoft are still Amerikanski corporations, right? Legal paperwork is so boring. Seal Team 6, C-130, Diego Garcia, Guantanamo Bay... and an extended vacation in Cuba until the perp is a real patriot.

Come on, man, as an Amerikanski you know better than me how this goes :biggrin: .
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
3,201
An amateur hacker from Hungary was raided by a swat team on behalf of the owners of Denevo DRM called Irdeto. So yes treaty's are in place to arrest/silence anyone.

It's already well know now far Bethesda will go to protect their IP. Hint don't use Scrolls.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,185
Location
Spudlandia
Yeah, I think it's pretty obvious: Either he gets some agreements with Bethesda, or he is toast and we will never see his project.
 
Joined
Jun 2, 2012
Messages
4,691
I thought conspiracy theories were an American thing. ;)

Well, maybe Gwydden is on to something. He shouldn't talk about it at all anymore and then just "accidentally" release it. :)
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,138
Location
Florida, US
Not much about conspiracy theories. Just look at past lawsuits of Bethesda or nintendo.

To me it always feels like tons of wasted time to not look into that part beforehand, then put years of work into your project, just to have it shut down.

I mean it's not like Bethesda just shuts down everything (like Nintendo does). Remember Nehrim and Enderal. Enderal is even available on steam. But developers should look into that beforehand.

But using the Fallout name and not building it as a mod for an existing Bethesda game...I don't think there good chances of success.

And as Moriendor already said, the cold war is over. We are more than 30 years past the age when in the USSR you just took pacmen and made your own game called "Nu, pogodi!" "Hase und Wolf" out of that without anyone caring (and even in the west you just were able to ignore any copyrights, see C64 music or games like Mad TV).
Slovakia is in the EU and you can be sure that any copyright infringements will have consequences. He might need to move to indian or some remote island in the Caribbean. But I somehow doubt that it's worth it for him.
So he will just do it like many others did...waste 2 years of development time until the game goes the way of the Dodo.
 
Joined
Jun 2, 2012
Messages
4,691
Some examples of Bethesda defending their copyright on IP's.:)

Fallout Fan Takes On Bethesda's Lawyers

Link - https://www.escapistmagazine.com/fallout-fan-takes-on-bethesdas-lawyers/

Bethesda hits Fortress Fallout creator with a cease-and-desist letter

Link - https://rectifygaming.com/bethesda-hits-fortress-fallout-creator-with-a-cease-and-desist-letter/

A brief history of Bethesda's many legal tangles

Link - https://www.polygon.com/2018/6/28/17511658/bethesda-lawsuits-fallout-elder-scrolls-prey
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,185
Location
Spudlandia
Slovakia is part of western world and not good place to hide from international law. Albeit it might take time in cases, as biggest problem of jurisdiction in this part of world is slow pace.
 
Joined
Oct 6, 2018
Messages
1,114
Actually interesting gaming news. The five articles on top of this one were skip-skip bore.
 
Joined
Mar 21, 2013
Messages
3,453
Back
Top Bottom