Eurogamer has a great interview with Chris Avellone up. Here are some highlights:
Eurogamer: So what did you think of Bethesda's take on Fallout 3, given you worked on the original attempt?
Chris Avellone: I enjoyed it quite a bit. Some of the things I really liked about it were... Well, in Fallout 1 and Fallout 2, a lot of the special skill structure they had for the game system actually either ended up being only useful in special cases, like Repair. That, or they had a time limit involved with them, like Doctor. Doctor worked in Fallout 1 because the game had a time pressure, and it was faster to use the skill than buy Stimpaks. But when they took the time limit away in Fallout 2 - and they did the patch that removed it from Fallout 1 - that skill wasn't really balanced anymore. I like very much how Fallout 3 took a lot of skills that had issues before and made them relevant - like, Repair is pretty damn important in Fallout 3!
The only drawback I can think of so far is that I made the mistake of starting out with a four-strength character during my first playthrough, and the amount of stuff you need to carry around ... I was constantly using mailboxes to store stuff, and hopping back and forth between Megaton and my little safehouse to sell it all! I wish I'd made my strength higher.
Eurogamer: You need strength to survive in the Wasteland, Chris.
Chris Avellone: Well, I wanted to bump up my intelligence and charisma as high as possible, because I wanted all the speech options. Generally, whenever I go into an RPG, I want to see every single possible way of interacting with someone, so I chose, for example, the Black Widow perk - I think that's the name - and the Child at Heart perk, too, because I wanted to see all the dialogue options with the kids and the opposite sex, and things like that.
Eurogamer: Do you think Bethesda carried on in the spirit of the series?
Chris Avellone: Yeah, absolutely. I guess my critique would be that Bethesda's always gotten the openworld game mechanic down pretty well. They have a tradition of it; they understand the design mechanics involved with that, and I believe very much that the Fallout world, by design, all the way from the first one, was always intended to be a go-anywhere-you-want-and-do-anything open world. And I think that Bethesda's design methodology and the Fallout world have always been pretty complementary.
...
Eurogamer: So you read it [RPG Codex], then?
Chris Avellone: Oh, yeah, sure. The two sites I usually follow are RPGWatch and RPGCodex. And there's one other site I follow, but it escapes me right now ...
...
Eurogamer: Right. Well, anyway, so here's a big one: what defines an RPG these days? It seems to change a lot.
hris Avellone: Well, I have a personal definition. Of the RPGs I've played recently, I'll be honest: I've been pretty much immersed in Fallout 3. But it seems to me that the most important parts of an RPG are that, in terms of all the character-building you can do in the opening screens, all those skill choices and background choices need to matter in the gameworld.
That may sound kind of self-evident, but there's a lot of game balance that needs to go into making sure that each skill, trait, and attribute score is valuable, and an RPG has to deliver on that. If you're going to give the player a chance to specialise in or improve a certain aspect of their character, there needs to be value for that in the gameworld.
The other thing that's important is that there has to be a lot of reactivity to the player's actions within the environment, either in terms of quests, faction allegiance, even physical changes in the environment. The player making an impact is incredibly important.
Eurogamer: "Choice and Consequence" now tends to be discussed as a separate, defined gameplay mechanic. Is that something you take into account with everything - every quest - you design?
Chris Avellone: It comes down to this: depending on the rules for the gameworld, the player has to be given a series of options on how to solve each problem. For Fallout, for example, it was easy: you always want to know that, as the bare minimum, you have a Combat Boy, Stealth Boy, and Speech Boy option for solving each quest. And then you go into consequences: for each option, what's the reactivity in the world and possible long-range consequences, and how does it factor into the endgame? Or does it not factor into the endgame at all, or just the area, or just the one person who gave you the quest? That's our process..
Thanks to the stinginess of Bethesda PR, he couldn't say anything about Fallout: New Vegas though. Despite that, it's a really great interview and you should go check out the whole thing here.
Edit: The absence of Jason Anderson from the press release, as numerous people have mentioned, makes us very suspicious that he is not working on this game, but actually working on Wasteland 2.
Just not on what we had hoped for. DAC originally reported that Brian Fargo had let slip that he and inXile were working on an "underwraps" game for Bethesda. Speculation ran rampant that it might be Wasteland 2, but it turns out that it is something else entirely. The game in question is called Hunted: The Demon's Forge. Here's the story from Gamasutra:
Bethesda Softworks said Monday that it will publish Inxile-developed Hunted: The Demon's Forge, a "third-person co-op fantasy action game" for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
The publishing deals comes shortly after news emerged that Inxile's crime game Heistwas canceled by Codemasters.
Bethesda said the game is powered by Epic's Unreal Engine 3, and is a "third-person dungeon crawl with the intensity and action of a modern-day shooter." The player and a partner go up against waves of enemies using ranged and melee weapons. The game will also sport co-op based puzzles.
Inxile was founded in 2002 by Interplay founder Brian Fargo, who worked on games inlcuding The Bard's Tale, Baldur's Gate and Fallout. Michael "Maxx" Kaufman is directing Hunted. Previously, Kaufman was art director on Kingpin: Life of Crime, Redneck Rampage and Gray Matter's Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
Bethesda Softworks president Vlatko Andonov said in a statement, "We believe gamers will be really excited about what these guys have in store for them."
Bethesda, which creates games such as Fallout 3 and Oblivion internally, is also publishing upcoming games such as Obsidian-developed Fallout: New Vegas, Splash Damage's Brink and Id Software's Rage.
Remember, you heard about the partnership here on DAC first
The old FIFE crew is back at it, this time releasing a tech demo of their PARPG game. The game will be a Fallout-inspired post apocalyptic RPG with the following elements:
Singleplayer RPG. No plans for multiplayer support. Coop gameplay not a priority.
Post-apocalyptic setting. Story, setting and game mechanics details are yet to be discussed.
Written in Python (2.6x branch). Utilizing the FIFE game engine.
Isometric 2d graphics instead of going for full 3d engine complexity.
Open source code and asset licensing.
Non-profit. The game and all tools will be free of charge for everyone.
Open development philosophy. Public development wiki and forums. Anonymous SVN checkout.
Meaningful choices and consequences. Multiple paths to complete quests, including non-violent ways.
Update: Looks like it's not the old FIFE crew after all. From mvBarracuda: "One note though: the project is not FIFE-related besides that it utilizes FIFE as engine. No former FIFE devs are currently involved in PARPG besides me."
Fallout: New Vegas doesn't come out for around 6 more months, but that hasn't stopped people from pre-ordering it already. According to VGChartz, New Vegas has cracked the top 30 list for pre-orders at number 29 - right above Metro 2033. FONV currently has almost 19,000 units pre-ordered, and I'm sure will see that number steadily increase until release.
Games Radar take us through a quick tour of some of the landmark locations that have been revealed from Fallout: New Vegas. Check it out:
Dinky the Dinosaur
If Dinky reminds you of The Wizard – a.k.a. the thinly veiled 90-minute Supre Mario Bros. 3 ad starring Fred Savage – then you probably grew up in the ‘80s, too. But yes, to answer your question: you can climb up into its mouth!
Above: Best. Sniper. Position. Ever.
Black Mountain Radio Tower
At the center of the New Vegas desert sprawl is Black Mountain, aptly named for its scorched ground. It was hit more directly by a nuclear blast than other areas (such as The Strip), so it’s populated almost exclusively by the Geiger Counter-lovin’ Super Mutants.
The Strip
You might not see a beam of light shooting skyward from the tip of a pyramid, but the main hub of New Vegas will still be hard to miss from wherever you are.
Helios One
Head up to the top of this innocent-looking solar-power plant to reactivate Archimedes II, a secret laser weapon you can use to vaporize the mutated inhabitants standing in your way below.
That's the PS10 Solar Tower in Spain. Just a quick example of one of the real life versions of the Helios One that's going to be found in Fallout: New Vegas.
Read all about it with a bunch of great pictures over at this CNN article.
* Dialogue should inform and entertain players -- inform them about the world and quests, entertain them with interesting characters and prose. If you aren't informing or entertaining, think hard about what you're trying to accomplish. * Write an outline. Really. Just do it. You should have an idea of where you are going before you set out. If you don't know where you're going when you write your conversation, chances are the player is going to get lost at some point. * Always give at least two options. At a bare minimum, you should always have an option that says, "Let's talk about something else," that leads back to a node where you can say, "Goodbye." You may think that your dialogue is riveting and no one could possibly want to stop reading/hearing it, but believe me -- someone out there does. * Never give false options. Do not create multiple options that lead to the same result. It insults players' intelligence and does not reward them for the choices they make. * Don't put words in the player's mouth. With the exception of conditional replies (gender, skills, stats, etc.), phrase things in a straightforward manner that does not mix a request for information with an emotionally loaded bias ("I'd like to know what's going on here, jackass."). * Keep skills, stats, gender, and previous story resolutions in mind and reward the player's choices. If it doesn't feel like a reward, it isn't; it's just a false option with a tag in front of it. Note: entertainment value can be a valid reward. * The writing style and structure are the project's; the character belongs to you and the world. As long as the dialogue follows project standards and feels like it is grounded in the world, it is your challenge and responsibility to make the character enjoyable and distinct.
Some great points, and refreshing to see this approach be brought back to Fallout. Remains to be seen how his approach actually manifests itself.
Thanks to a Duck and Cover reader named JT who emailed these to us, we present to you the first full size Fallout: New Vegas screenshots (at least that I've seen). Click on the thumbs for the full version:
The OXM US issue featuring Fallout: New Vegas has hit the stands. Here's the low-down:
* Character creation is virtually identical to Fallout 3, with cosmetic changes like the Gene Projector being replaced by ReflectionTM, "You're SPECIAL!" by Vit-o-Matic machine and GOAT by a psychological test * The local super mutants are pretty tough and will keep you from wandering aimlessly in the early portions of the game - they tend to be tougher even than deathclaws * Sunny Smiles' dog is named Cheyenne. She'll assist you with the Powder Gangers in the Ghost Town Firefight quest if you help her kill some geckos. * The Varmint Rifle is a low-power .22 that does significant damage to limbs and has a high critical bonus * If your Barter skill is high enough, Chet the shopkeeper give you the 9-Iron golf club and some weapon mods * Every skill will have use in conversations at various points * Each firearm has a maximum of three modification slots. Once you affix a mod to a gun, it's permanent. Hunting Rifle modification examples given are scope, custom action and extended clip. * Temporary followers, like the Goodsprings folks that can help you defeat the Powder Gangers, will also be controlled through the companion wheel * Concept art of Hoover Dam and screenshots of the Black Mountain radio tower and the character standing inside the mouth of Dinky the Dinosaur shown * With high local reputation at Goodsprings, you'll get a free bed to sleep in and a discount at the store * Neil, a super mutant who hates Tabitha, can help you storm the mountain * Tabitha is actually a male super mutant gone completely insane * "Skill magazines" you find in New Vegas will only temporarily boost your skills * There's a rollercoaster in Primm * The gameplay was tweaked to be more first-person-shootery
A fellow by the name of Lukasz Wasilewski stopped by to let us know about a new post-apocalyptic game that's in the works called Slincer: Preludium. I'll let him do the talking:
Hello.
Recently I finished first track for the game (working title - Slincer: Preludium) I’m scoring. Using few concept arts from this game I made short video presenting my first track from sountrack:
Slincer: Preludium is supposed to be FPS/survival horror, taking place in very small area of post-apocalyptic Warsaw, developed by Disturbia Games. Our plan is to create story driven action RPG title Slincer where gamer would be able to explore big part of ruined capitol of Poland. However, because we are young and small studio, we decided to firstly work on much smaller project - Slincer: Preludium which, nevertheless, is going to be as atmospheric as his "bigger brother". What is important is fact that at this moment Slincer: Preludium is going to be freeware.
Duck and Cover has obtained Interplay's latest filing in the ongoing legal struggle between Interplay and Bethesda. The filing is confusingly called "Interplay Entertainments Corp.'s Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Reply to the Opposition of Bethesda Softworks, LLC to its Motion for Attorney's Fees and Costs; Declaration of Rochelle A. Herzog." For those who have no idea what that means, this filing is basically a document detailing why Interplay says it deserves its court fees from Bethesda, as well as how they say Bethesda is basically the evil Empire.
Here are the general points that Interplay makes:
Bethesda's Statement of Facts Contains Inaccuracies
Bethesda's Actions Reflect Bad Faith
Interplay is a "Prevailing Party"
The Attorney's Fees Requested Are Reasonable and Consistent With the Court's Standards
The document itself is 23 pages long, and I've gone through and highlighted the most relevant and interesting points. From what Interplay says, it seems that Bethesda opposed Interplay's first motion for court fee reimbursement, arguing basically the same things which the court struck down in the Preliminary Injunction hearing. For example, Bethesda said that Interplay did not deserve the fees because "Interplay had not secured any kind of financing for the [Fallout] MMOG...within the required two year period and its license automatically terminated." Interplay argues that not only had they already presented evidence of a financing arrangement that was made within the timeframe, but that the entire argument is without merit in this motion for attorneys' fees:
"In any event, Interplay's Motion is unrelated to Interplay's financing for the MMOG or Interplay's financial circumstances. The Motion is based solely on Interplay's successful defense of Bethesda's PI [Preliminary Injunction] Motion."
Interplay also claims that:
"not only was the preliminary injunction unnecessary and pursued in bad faith, Bethesda's filing of the lawsuit is a bad faith attempt to deny Interplay the merchandising rights to which its entitled under the Asset Purchase Agreement ("APA") and the MMOG rights it is entitled to under the Trademark Licensing Agreement ("TLA").
This means they believe Bethesda never intended to honor any part of their agreement with Interplay.
Interplay provides more claims that Bethesda is trying to bully them into submission - basically bleeding them dry:
"Bethesda continued to pursue the PI Motion while continuously emphasizing Interplay's negative financial situation. Bethesda was keenly aware that Interplay could not fund expensive, protracted litigation. However, even after discovery was conducted and Bethesda knew it could not prevail because it had insufficient evidence to carry its burden of proof, it nevertheless continued to press for the injunction which it knew would increase the expense of litigation and delay the case."
There is quite a bit of legal precedent that Interplay's lawyer cites, and I found this one to be interesting:
"Bethesda's oppressive litigation tactics qualify this case as "exceptional" thereby entitling Interplay to attorney's fees and costs under the Lanham Act as the prevailing party."
Now for meaty bits:
"The same arguments made before the Court at the hearing of Bethesda's PI Motion are reiterated in the Opposition [to Interplay's request for court fees] and have no more merit now than they did on December 10, 2009. Interplay disputes many of the alleged "facts" asserted in Bethesda's Opposition. More specifically:
Interplay did not forfeit its rights to use the Fallout mark upon termination of the Trademark Licensing Agreement ("TLA") as alleged by Bethesda, because it did not breach the TLA and hence, no termination occurred. Since there was no breach, Interplay did not forfeit its rights and could not have infringed the Fallout mark."
...
"Interplay contends that Bethesda has evidence ongoing bad faith in connection with the PI Motion and that the entire lawsuit is an attempt to deny Interplay the benefits of the APA merchandising rights and the TLA MMOG rights."
The basic major argument from Interplay is that despite not having a case, Bethesda still continued with the lawsuit in order to bleed Interplay dry through legal fees.
It will be very interesting to see how the court decides here. Rest assured that the decision, no matter which way, will have no effect on the development and scheduled release of Fallout: New Vegas.
Europe is apparently Bethesda's, with European gaming magazines being the first and most numerous to have Fallout: New Vegas editions - not to mention the fact that Brian Fargo did a press tour of Europe for a rumored Bethesda game. Here's the word from the Bethblog:
Over the past couple weeks, we’ve shared some of the magazine covers coming out for Fallout: New Vegas, and I thought I’d share this one with you — it’s the latest issue of LEVEL, a Turkish magazine that came out this week.
In addition to LEVEL, here’s a few European mags to be on the lookout for:.
Despite being embroiled in a lawsuit with Bethesda over the fate of their Fallout MMO, Interplay has updated their website to show that PV13 - the codename for the Fallout MMO - will be released in 2012.
If it will actually be released as a Fallout MMO and not a new IP depends on the outcome of the court case with Bethesda.
