Fallout 3 Survival Kit

It ended before it had even begun...

2007-05-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

I've started a new project in place of this one called Gamerpunch. If you've linked to this site, please change the link to Gamerpunch (www.Gamerpunch.com).

Thanks,
Natasha

Official site sucks slightly less... but still sucks

2007-05-06T01:45:00.000-07:00

06.05.07 / Bethesda have updated Fallout's official site with an impressive piece of concept art, some background music, and a cryptic message... TEASER: 30 DAYS. I'm guessing this means that we can expect a teaser trailer in thirty days. In the mean time, I guess we'll all go back to our various arguments and wild speculations.

I've added the image, titled 'Wasteland' to the Concept Art page.

Bethesda @ E3 - yep

2007-04-29T03:25:00.000-07:00

29.04.07 / Just confirmed: Bethesda will be at this July's E3 summit. We can assume this will be for F3, as they don't have any other projects in development. Here's to hoping, anyway.

Source: GameDaily.biz, "E3 Exhibitor List Narrowed Down to Just 32".

Some thoughts on Bethesda and dialogue

2007-04-29T01:23:00.001-07:00

29.04.07 / As some of you are aware, I'm certainly not hostile towards Bethesda Game Studios. I began this website trusting that any version of Fallout they created would be a good one. I'm more than willing to look at the development team critically, however, and analyze areas where Bethesda is going to have to improve if they're to deliver an experience commensurate with gamers' expectations of what a Fallout game should be.

I've been writing several quest guides for the Shivering Isles expansion pack for Oblivion and transcribing certain key dialogues. When you have a conversation in front of you, it's easy to see the weaknesses present in Oblivion's dialogue. Here's an example:

Sheogorath: “Now, to the reason for your being here, and the likely cause of your death.”
Player Character: “What do you mean?”
S: “You’ll be stopping the Greymarch. Altering the course of events, breaking the cycle. A fly in the ointment, a new cause for a different effect. We’re going to change things. No! Things will be different this time around . You’ll be my champion. You’ll grow powerful. You’ll grow to be… Me! A new prince of Madness. A new Sheogorath. Or you’ll die trying.”
PC: "How can I become a Daedric Prince?"
S: “... A fair question. You won’t, really. At least I don’t think so. But you’ll have power. My power. Try not to lose it, it’s a pain to replace. For all intents and purposes, you’ll be a me. A me to fight the him. Because I won’t be around. It’s simple really, if you don’t think about it.”
PC: "Where will you be?”
S: “Not here. Didn’t I say that? I’m never here when Juggalag walks. It’s one of the rules. I’ve told you too much for now. Listen to me prattle on. I can see your mortal brain straining. We’ll talk more later.”
PC: “What’s next?”
S: "Now... You’ve seen the Great torch that burns brightly over New Sheoth. No? Because it doesn’t! But it should!”

The player character, like Neo in the Matrix series of films, is relegated to the role of prompter for the NPC's dialogue. In Oblivion, dialogue is simply a way of making quest-related information entertaining. Very occasionally your character will be given several choices of how to respond, but these choices are simplistic: you might have one mean response, one nice response, and one indifferent response. Dialogue is never included for the sake of character development, and you are never given the chance to portray your character's personality - beyond 'my character is mean' or 'my character is not mean'. Oblivion has many other strengths, and this dialogue system works for what it is intended to do: convey information. But it works to that end alone.

Fallout 3, however, will join a series where character development and personality roleplay stand at among the key features that garnered it a cult following. The dialogue system present in Oblivion will not cut it. I am not trying to argue that Bethesda cannot create a complex and nuanced dialogue system for F3, but it's clear this is not something they have experience with.

So, what's clear is that the development team are going to have to flex some creative muscles if they want to match the depth of dialogue in Fallout 1 and 2. Or, hire some new writers who've worked on games which utilize similar systems.

We Know... A Little More

2007-04-26T03:03:00.000-07:00

26.04.07 / I've added a significant chunk of information to the What We Know section of the site, with information on the Fallout series, Bethesda, their previous games, and what we know about Fallout 3's gameplay and story. Clicking the links below will take you to the information:

Previous Fallout Titles

Fallout 3

Update: Added two Spanish Fallout sites to the Links section. Thanks go to Jonigigolo for letting me know about these sites.

Grand Opening

2007-04-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

42.04.07 / Well, not so grand, but the site is no longer under construction. There's not much material to work with at the moment - Bethesda has been incredibly tight-lipped about what Fallout 3 will look and feel like. Pete Hines, who does a lot of the publicity for Bethesda's titles, says it's because the developers prefer to show rather than tell. Until we reach the point where Bethesda has something to show, this site will function as a hub for confirmed facts, rumors, any images which slip through the cracks, and a source of up-to-the-minute news collated from around the web.

Now, a little about me. On the net I'm known as Le Driver, and I run my fan-sites under that handle. I'm also webmaster of The Elder Scrolls Traveler, a weekly eZine dedicated to The Elder Scrolls series of games, which Bethesda is most famous for. I have a number of years experience maintaining websites, a love of RPGs, and a general fondness for the games created by Bethesda Game Studios. I'm hoping all this makes me relatively qualified to run the Survival Kit.

If you have your own site I would be more than happy to swap buttons or links with you. A new site always struggles to find its feet and link exchanges do help. Drop me a line if you're interested.

In the mean time, see you on the forums!

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