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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Images -- Concept Art

2007-04-24T18:10:00.005-07:00

Links

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Want to exchange links? Drop me a line.

Official
Bethesda Softworks - official site of the game's developers.
Fallout 3 Official Site - the current location of Fallout 3's official site.

English Fan-sites
Duck and Cover
Fallout 3: A Post Nuclear Blog
No Mutants Allowed

Czech Fan-sites
Vault Silene Brahminy (Vault of Mad Brahmin)

Bulgarian Fan-sites
Fallout Vault BG

French Fan-sites
Au Mutant Sanglant
Fallout 3 Nucléar
Frenchvault
Nuclear Cleansing
Nukacola.com

Polish Fan-sites
Fallout Center
Fallout Corner
Pustkowia (Wasteland)
Sierra Army Depot
SHAMO
Trzynasty Schron (Vault Thirteen)

Russian Fan-sites
Fallout.ru
Fallout Encyclopaedia
GraveDigger's Original Research
Wasteland Chronicles

Spanish Fan-sites
Fallout Portal
Lost Vault

What We Know

2007-04-24T18:10:00.001-07:00

Previous Fallout Titles

Fallout 3

PREVIOUS FALLOUT TITLES

The game will be a continuation of the Fallout franchise of games, released for PC. Though critically acclaimed the games did not achieve mainstream success, instead developing a small but dedicated cult following. The Fallout Series is made-up of a number of games and spin-offs: Fallout (1997), Fallout 2 (1998), and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel (2001). The original Fallout games (1 and 2) are both RPGs with a top-down isometric view point and turn-based combat.

Fallout 1 (1997)

Story and setting [Contains spoilers]
from the Fallout Wikipedia entry.

The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world following The Great War, a nuclear war that occurred on October 23, 2077 and lasted less than two hours but caused immense damage and destruction. Before The Great War were the Resource Wars, during which the United Nations disbanded, a plague rendered the United States paranoid, and Canada was annexed.

The game takes place in 2161 in Southern California and begins in Vault 13, the protagonist's home. Vault 13's Water Chip, a computer chip responsible for the water recycling and pumping machinery, has broken. The Vault Overseer tasks the protagonist with finding a replacement. He or she is given a portable device called the "PIPBoy 2000" which keeps track of mapmaking, quest objectives, and various bookkeeping aspects. Armed with the PIPBoy 2000 and meager equipment, the protagonist is sent out into the remains of California to find another Water Chip.

The player initially has 150 days before the Vault's water supply runs out. This time limit can be extended by 70 days if he commissions merchants in the Hub to send water caravans to Vault 13. Upon returning the chip, the Vault Dweller is then tasked with destroying a mutant army that threatens humanity. A mutant known as "The Master" (previously known as Richard Grey) has begun using a pre-war, genetically engineered virus called Forced Evolutionary Virus to convert humanity into a race of "Super Mutants", and bring them together in the Unity, his plan for a perfect world. The player is to kill him and destroy the Military Base housing the supply of FEV, thus halting the invasion before it can start.

If the player does not complete both objective within 500 game days, the mutant army will discover Vault 13 and invade it, bringing an end to the game. This time limit is shortened to 400 days if the player divulged Vault 13's location to the water merchants. A cinematic cut-scene of mutants overrunning the vault is shown if the player fails to stop the mutant army within this time frame, indicating the player has lost the game. If the player agrees to join the mutant army, the same cinematic is shown.

In version 1.1 of the game, the time limit for the mutant attack on Vault 13 is eliminated, allowing players to explore the game world at their leisure.

The player can defeat the Master and destroy the Super Mutants' Military Base in either order. When both threats are eliminated, a cut-scene ensues in which the player automatically returns to Vault 13. There he is told that he has changed too much and his return would negatively influence the citizens of the Vault as a negative role model. Thus he is rewarded with exile into the desert, for, in the Overseer's eyes, the good of the vault. There is an alternate ending (available if the player has the "Bloody Mess" trait, or has accrued significant negative karma throughout the game) in which the Vault Dweller draws a handgun and shoots the Overseer after he is told to go in exile.

Graphics

Gameplay

The character is controlled primarily with the mouse.
The world moves in real time until combat begins (combat is turn based).
Various NPCs can join you, but you do not control them.
Character development is both level based and skill based.
Characters can also be customized with traits and perks.
Items are accessed through an inventory screen.
Players may pick from a number of dialogue choices when responding to NPCs.
Killing monsters and completing quests yields XP.

Reviews

Visit Fallout's Metacritic page to see an overall rating from reviewers (89 out of 100) and users (10.0 out of 10) and read archived reviews.

Fallout 2 (1998) Story and Setting [Contains Spoilers]
from the Fallout 2 Wikipedia entry

At the end of original Fallout, the hero Vault Dweller was exiled by the Vault Overseer for his prolonged exposure to the outside world. Unable to return home, the Vault Dweller with a group of willing companions traveled far north. Eventually they started their own tribal village called Arroyo in what is modern day Oregon. Decades have passed since the original Fallout, and the Vault Dweller has died.

In the time since the Vault Dweller's exile, a new government known as the New California Republic (abbreviated NCR) has begun to unify the southern towns and is spreading to the north. A mysterious new organization known as the Enclave has emerged with the most sophisticated technology in the wastes, even surpassing the Brotherhood of Steel. And a new drug, Jet, has become a cancer on many towns with a nearly 100% addiction rate, forcing many to rely the town of New Reno to keep them supplied.

During 2241, Arroyo suffered the worst drought on record. Faced with the difficulty, the village elders asked the direct descendant of the Vault Dweller, referred to as the Chosen One, to perform the quest of retrieving a Garden of Eden Creation Kit (GECK) for Arroyo. The GECK is a device that can create thriving communities out of the post-apocalyptic wasteland.

The player, assuming the role of the Chosen One, is given nothing more than the Vault Dweller's jumpsuit, a RobCo PIPBoy 2000 hand-held device, a Vault 13 water flask, and some cash to start on his mission.

The player eventually finds Vault 13 (the first place possible to obtain a GECK) devoid of the majority of its former human inhabitants. The Chosen One returns to find his village captured by the remnants of the United States government known as "The Enclave". The player, through variety of means, activates an ancient oil tanker and its autopilot, thus allowing him to reach the Enclave's main base on an offshore oilrig.

It is revealed that the dwellers of Vault 13 were captured as well, to be used as test subjects for FEV (Forced Evolutionary Virus). Vault 13 was supposed to be closed for 200 years as part of an Enclave experiment, this makes them perfect test subjects. The Enclave modified the Forced Evolutionary Virus into an airborne disease, designed to attack any living creatures with mutated DNA. With all genetic impurities removed, the Enclave (who remain protected from radiation) could take over. The player frees both his village (Arroyo) and the Vault 13 dwellers from Enclave control, and destroys the Enclave's oilrig. In the ending, the inhabitants of Vault 13 and Arroyo villagers create a new prosperous community with the help of the GECK.

Graphics

Gameplay

Open-ended gameplay with a world that changes based on your actions.
The character is controlled primarily with the mouse.
A top-down isometric view.
The world moves in real time until you enter combat (combat is turn based).
NPCs who join your party accept battle orders such as "fight" and "flee".
You can travel via car at certain points.
Character development is both level based and skill based.
Characters can also be customized with traits and perks.
Items are accessed through an inventory screen.
Players may pick from a number of dialogue choices when responding to NPCs.
Killing monsters and completing quests yields XP.

Reviews

Visit Fallout 2's Metacritic page to see an overall rating from reviewers (86 out of 100) and users (9.3 out of 10) and read archived reviews.

FALLOUT 3

Who are Bethesda Softworks?

Bethesda Softworks is quite possibly the most successful western game development company around. They are responsible for the critically acclaimed and incredibly popular Elder Scrolls series of games. These games are famous for their first-person RPG gameplay and free-roam world design.

Bethesda Softworks have purchased all Intellectual Property and the Fallout Trademark from Interplay, the original publisher of the Fallout games.

The Elder Scrolls series of games, which forms the nucleus of Bethesda's experience with RPGs, has been both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. The series consists of:

The Elder Scrolls: Arena (1994)
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (1996)
The Elder Scrolls Legends: Battlespire (1997)
The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard (1998)
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002)
The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal (2002)
The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon (2003)
The Elder Scrolls Travels: Stormhold (2003)
The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey (2004)
The Elder Scrolls Travels: Dawnstar (2004)
The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion (2006)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine (2006)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles (2007)

The development team

Confirmed members of the development team for Fallout 3 are as follows:

Todd Howard - Executive Producer
Gavin Carter - Lead Producer
Emil Pagliarulo - Lead Designer
Joel Burgess - Lead Level Designer
Steve Meister - Lead Programmer
Ashley Cheng - Production Director [read his blog]
Brian Chapin - Designer, works under Emil
Matt Grandstaff - Community Manager
Pete Hines - PR/Marketing Guy

Gavin Carter says the team have been working on the game since The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion went gold. That would be March, 2006.

What we know about the story

In one interview, Pete Hines stated that Fallout 3's story would continue on from previous titles in the series. In other interviews, however, he has refused to disclose any information about the story.

What we know about the gameplay

Quotes such as these seem to indicate Fallout 3 will be a first-person, open-ended RPG:

"We're not going to go away from what it is that we do best. We're not going to suddenly do a top-down isometric Baldur's Gate-style game, because that's not what we do well."
-- Pete Hines

"There's no question that what we're interested in making is a role-playing game. In addition, our Elder Scrolls games are open-ended, offer the player lots of options to play the game as they choose... Things like that. I think those qualities are consistent with those in Fallout."
-- Pete Hines

Nothing more specific is known at this point.

Rumors

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What follows are some unsubstantiated quotes floating around on the net from people who claim to have had privileged access to the game or to its developers. Keep in mind that these people may never have seen or done the things they say and could simply be hoping for their 15 minutes in the fan community spotlight. Most rumors prove to be untrue - but, rumors do give us all something to read in the absence of any solid information!

"I used to work at BSW [Bethesda Softworks] and I still keep in touch with the guys there. On a trip back to visit my friends there in the US I saw some artwork for the concepts and stuff… Obviously I can’t discuss specifics, but it looked very VERY nice. I think they are managing to make it look far and away different from the style they use in TES games, so I think that will help.

As far as writing is concerned, I ain’t too worried about that either. The fact that the main writer for the TES games no longer works there means you probably won’t have his “touch” influencing it. Which is not to say that I think Ken would do a bad job."

- Comment left by endekks, posting at ars technica (14 April 2007) / Source: Fallout 3, A Post Nuclear Blog

Unashamedly stupid RT combat that will make Bloodlines combat look like genuine CRPG gameplay (as if we could expect anything else from Bethesda as of recent), same kind of roam as Oblivion, except from what I saw and was told, it’s FP combat when firearms are brought into play much like Bloodlines. In other words, they’re giving Fallout a near Dark Messiah treatment that Might and Magic enjoyed, but with a lot less kicking, probably about the same writing quality, and with 90% more industry newbies on the team. From what I was told up to November, they were still having fun learning about how to script speech trees, as those were considered to be “extra” from the start.

- Posted by Rosh, forum user at RPGCodex who claims to have spoken to multiple sources within Bethesda. Keep in mind that this user is incredibly hostile towards Bethesda, calling them a "sold-out company" in his signature. It seems very unlikely he has developed friendships within the company, considering how much he seems to hate it - though he does have a some small background in the computer gaming industry. / Source: Fallout 3, A Post Nuclear Blog

Although Hines wouldn’t be drawn on a date for the first public showing of Fallout 3, one of our insider sources let slip that it was likely to be during the new format E3 videogame tradeshow in July [2007], if not before.

- From 360Gamer interview with Pete Hines / Source: Fallout 3, A Post Nuclear Blog

There are a bunch of comments on Kotaku about whether or not it [Fallout 3] will be first person, third person, and how well the game will play out and look. All I have to say is, don’t worry. I can’t say anything more then that, but really and truly trust me, don’t worry. If you must know more you’ll have to ask me personally, and even then probably with a few drinks in me for good measure.

- Bartoneus at Critical-hits.com / Source: Fallout 3, A Post Nuclear Blog

Images -- Other

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Images

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Screenshots (0)
Concept Art (1)
Other (2)

Quick Info

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Previews

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No previews have been published as yet.

Interviews

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No interviews have been published as yet.

Images

2007-04-21T22:09:00.000-07:00