Escapist on Bethesda (and Fallout 3)
Tuesday, February 6th, 2007 - 6:56pm
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/83/11
Quote:
"Like I was talking about before, with sequels, you have to define the experience the first one had and stay true to it," he [Todd Howard] said. "I think the first Fallout's tone is brilliant, but then they start to drift in the sequel and subsequent games. When it comes to humor, I'm very anti 'jokes' in games. Most designers try too hard to tell a joke, and it just doesn't work. I think good humor for Fallout is dry, almost satirical. Like getting your leg blown off, blood starts spraying all over the place and you get the little [PIPBoy] interface image giving you the thumbs up - I find that funny. Horrible situations juxtaposed against cartoon mascots. But that's just me."
Is that something he thinks happened in Fallout or is it something we should expect in Fallout 3?
Fedaykin98 wrote:
Good lord, I wouldn't have expected brilliance like that from that nemeslut Quintin Stone!
wordsmythe wrote:
I know I'm not terribly cool
From what I recall, Fallout did have a lot of dark humour in it, and Fallout 2 did kind of go over the top on a lot of things. The problem is, will it be subtle like FO1 or cave-your-skull-in like FO2?
Mystic Violet wrote:
FO2 was a little heavy with the toilet jokes, though the 1950's references (eg: the Mr. Nixon doll) were pretty golden.
This is the internet! In our natural environment, atheists run in packs and have dictionaries! --- JoeBeDurndurn
See, I don't get their beef. FO2's been regarded as generally better than the original; why mess with what people thinks is better?
"Men like sex, thus boobies! Oogaba!" - dejanzie
"If ads put your sanity to the test
come on down to Rat Boy's nest!
light up a stogie, and soon you'll see
how rock can be commercial-free!
'I'd hit it!'" - HP Lovesauce
Says who ? I've seen many people online who have the same assessment of it as I do - being inferior to the prequel, losing the atmosphere, using the quantity over quality mindset and full of crappy "inside jokes".
I never played either
... My name is hubbinsd and I'm a Fallout virgin
Xbox Live: hubbinsd
Fallout 2 had the Highwayman. Case closed.
Fedaykin98 wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
No worries, they're not that good.
Danjo Olivaw Lives
How dare you! No one is allowed to have an opinion contrary to mine.
"I think Elysium has the right of it" - Certis
If the first game was never made, I'd play the sequel all the way through. When it comes to Fallout, it is better to have loved and suffered than to not have loved at all.
I thought 2 was vastly superior to 1.
Maybe I need to replay both again.
Somewhere on a deep ocean vent no man has ever seen, God smites a small colony of tube worms because you masturbate.-JoeBedurndurn, on sin
2 was much better in terms of gameplay, 1 was much better in terms of writing and story. Those are facts, and I'm really glad Todd Howard seems to agree. I really felt that Fearghus Urqhart didn't "get" the feel of Fallout, or else just wasn't talented enough to emulate it.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
"If I was Obama I'd have made a joke about that. Then again, if I was Obama I'd have f*cked up my own campaign long ago by making c*ck jokes." - 1Dgaf
"Poor Achmed, only three days away from retirement ... from Jihad." - Mike Nelson
You guys are easier than Earth girls.
Howard's comments regarding sequels in general, how that philosophy applied to The Elder Scrolls, and how he hopes to apply that theory to Fallout 3 is exactly what I'd want to hear if I were a Frothing Fallout Fan. Who knows, if executed well the game might even turn out to be something I can enjoy.
The back story of Bethesda and Weaver was really interesting. I'm wondering how much Weaver's absence affected Oblivion.
Danjo Olivaw Lives
It'd be cool if they used the Oblivion engine with an isometric perspective. If it's first-person, it just won't be Fallout. Fallout has turn-based combat.
Man, I want to find a copy of Fallout Tactics now.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
Plasma rifle --> pooper.
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
XBL: E Munnie
elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com
I loved 1, barely played 2 (but the disc for it is currently in my laptop's drive), and I think this guy sounded like he had a good idea of proper Fallout humor. It is definitely dry, and dark.
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
It's not bad, but it's got none of the atmosphere or gameplay of the RPG's. It's entirely combat mission based, "Go here and kill things." It does add stealth and stances. Much of the combat is simply too long with too many enemies to make turn-based worth it, unless you've got a lot of patience. Plus you can do things in real-time you can't do in turn-based (like having all six characters pop up and open fire simultaneously, killing opponents before they can return fire).
Fedaykin98 wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
Feargus Urquhart
Whatever, the mofo needs to give his name back to J.R.R. Tolkien.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
I think I love you.
I agree with QS. Tactics was a decent game but had none of the Fallout feel.
McChuck wrote:
<3
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
(Fallout Tactics <3 rant follows)
I completely LOVED how the character creation aspect of Tactics carried over to multiplayer matches. Skills, stats, starting gear, etc were all worth X-Y-Z points and the host could set a cap on this amount. You could create and then store characters ahead of time so that you'd be set for all manner of crazy themed matches that might come your way.
The diversity this allowed for was great and, if TB multi wasn't your thing, the game's RT mode wasn't bad as long as you mapped your keys* for quick access to the stances and firing modes. And yeah, the kill animations still had FO flavor.
I generally dislike when titles get farmed out, but Micro Forte/14 Degrees East really did a great job with the game. It's a shame it took such a heavy beating from the day development was announced.
*this may have required mucking about with the txt file, I don't fully recall.
XBL - RVillain
Care to elaborate on Tactics multiplayer? I might need to try me some of that...
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
You build multiplayer characters based on a RPG-style point buy system. Attributes, skills, and equipment all raise the point value of a character. Then when you run a multiplayer game, you can set a cap on the maximum point value allowed per character. When you join the server, you select your characters from the ones you've already created.
Fedaykin98 wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
Cool...and is it fun? How many characters does each player field? How many players can play in a game? Are there gametypes?
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
Since the characters are stored at the client, I am guessing the only way to play this is with friends.
It was fun alright, although people tended to set some high exp caps for most of the games. Personally, I liked when caps were pretty low and we had to duke it out with shotguns and smgs, that plasma rifles foolishness was just a bit too high tech for proper Fallout feeling.
I still remember fondly the demo map where one of the sides had to destroy gas cistern, located in a fort in the middle of junkyard. Plus, one side could have multiple teams, so you could have one defending the fort itself while the other sneaked out and attacked enemy from behind in the heat of the battle.
Glorious days...
I`m Artsy Partsy Gun For Hire
Multiplayer stuff I recall:
You weren't limited to humans. I specifically recall super mutants, robots, ghouls and deathclaws; dogs too, I think.
The CTB option (continuous turn based) essentially was quickly regenerating AP; I believe this may have been adjustable for the matches.
For CTB, keeping your fingers near the equivalent keys for: fire-at-will/return fire/hold fire and stand/crouch/prone(?) was a smart idea.
There may have been more modes eventually (possibly patched in) but the game types I recall were DM and a sort of assault/defend base system.
Isometric based with (what may have been optional) LOS system.
You had day/night control. I think there were multiple states you could set within that.
Keeping the point limit sane, as Most mentioned, was indeed a governing factor of the experience. Making tough choices in character creation was half the fun.
Multiple soldiers may have been an option, but I me and my buds always went one soldier per player for CTB.
Just found my CD case, it says 17 people in mplay. Ten or fewer may have been more practical though.
XBL - RVillain
All I care about is this:
1) Apocalyptic.
2) Satirical humor of the 1950s.
3) Lots of casual violence.
4) Wacky NPCs.
"Time traveling terrorists are no laughing matter, Malor." - *Legion* quote #30201
XBox Live: Novopain
Don't forget gameplay that allows you to be as good or malevolent as you truly want, and be completable as either.
Mystic Violet wrote: