04/30/03
Developer Diary #1
"Hey, why don't we make Fallout for the console?" Excuse me? Did you just propose what I thought you did? Fallout as an action game for the console. Holy crap. You mean I get to run up to a rad scorpion, hit it with a super sledgehammer, hear the crack of it's shell and see the guts go flying all in real time. I can then switch to my back-up, a mini-gun and slice in half a Super Mutant with a hail of lead. Oh yeah, I'm in.
Oh-oh. Wait a minute. What about all those fans who want Fallout 3? But what about all those fans who would love to see Fallout expand? Better yet, what about all those gamers out there who have heard of Fallout, but turn-based RPG's are not their bag? I want them to see what a cool universe Fallout is. I want them to experience the Brotherhood, the wasteland, and the 50's sci-fi culture gone haywire. I want them to be able to see what the 1930's World of Tomorrow looks like after World War III. Oh yeah, this could be great.
Those were the first things I thought of when Future Shock (later named Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, but that is a story in itself) was proposed during a concept proposal meeting. It had not occurred to me to bring one the most famous post-apocalyptic settings to the console (let alone two of them). Here I am ready to propose a squad based first person shooter and I am blindsided by this idea.
So with this we set out to make a game based on the wasteland of Fallout.
Well it has been about 12 months since we completed the prototype. We started with a small team of 8 or so guys, tore into the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance engine, defined what we wanted to change in the gameplay aspect and designed a game built around action. Our lead designer then wrote a story designed to fit the Fallout universe. Our programmers changed how the whole ranged combat system worked - gun friendly and moving while targeting. The artist banged away at making a dirty world look polished (not an easy feat). But most of all, we all set out to make an entertaining and satisfying game experience.
As F:BoS continues in its development, we will strive to keep you informed of strides and changes and keep new information flowing to you. Interplay hopes you find this game as fun and as exciting as we do. For all those players who ever wanted to shred a Deathclaw with a laser Gatling gun in real time and in 3D, your day is coming!
Chuck Cuevas - Producer
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