Alan Nanes, one of the game designers responsible for writing dialog and developing plotlines in Fallout 3, is interviewed in this week's edition of Inside the Vault. Excerpts: What have you drawn on for inspiration in developing Fallout 3? It would be easy for me to say I immediately ran to my DVD
collection and threw Road Warrior or Six-String Samurai in, but this
isn’t the case. I decided to draw my inspiration from the original
source: the old Fallout games themselves (specifically Fallout 1 &
2). I wanted to make sure I replayed them and understood what the
original developers were trying to bring to the table. I hadn’t
actually fired the games up in years, so it was great to rediscover
them all over again. This doesn’t mean that visuals from other movies or games never
entered my mind. Films like Children of Men, Delicatessen, Escape from
New York, 12 Monkeys and Soylent Green and games such as Bad Blood,
Autoduel and Wasteland all provided interesting backdrops from which
ideas began springing forth. Honestly though, Emil Pagliarulo himself
was a great inspiration. His genuine love of the source material is
evident in every write-up and synopsis he gives us. (...) How long have you been playing Fallout?
I’ve been experiencing Fallout ever since the games were released.
As I had mentioned before, there was definitely a gap of time where
they were packed in boxes and sat idle, but were never forgotten. The
day I heard we were going to be actually developing a Fallout title was
the day I cracked those boxes open again.
One of the things I always admired about Fallout, especially the
first one, was that choices really meant something. It wasn’t just
disguised dialog that funneled you to the same plot point. They made a
concerted effort to make the game change depending on how YOU wanted to
play. Your actions shaped the world and yet you still remained in sight
of your final goal (well all the while you had a blast doing it). I
hope to bring this same feeling to Fallout 3. (...) What would you say is the best game you’ve played in the last year?
The best game in the past year would have to be S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The
atmosphere was right, the setting was creepy and the game had a decent
mix of action and RPG elements without being overcome by tons of
numbers. The game feels old school, but not visually dated. Games like
this are a strong influence for me when I present my ideas at game
system and Design meetings. And no, I didn’t finish it yet, but I am
currently still enjoying it immensely. (...) Pitch me your dream game in a sentence or less. Go.
My dream game would be a serious Star Trek RPG complete with an entire universe to explore.
Read the whole interview here. |
