Chatting with Vault Dwellers from PAX

[Brother None]

Uh, ok, I guess. BethBlog interviews the guys who were in Vault Suits at PAX.<blockquote><center></center>
You guys really went the extra mile with the details of your costumes. What was your favorite part of your costumes?

Chad: Maybe it’s just all of the effort we poured into them, but I’ll have to go with the PipBoys.

Zac: The PipBoys for sure, but I like all the little stuff, like the Cat’s Paw magazine. We had a graphic artist friend come through for us in the 11th hour to make the Mentats boxes, which I also love.

Jav: Yeah, the PipBoys have to be my favorite as well. It was by far the most involved process in making the costumes, although the plastic knife I bought at the dollar store had some sentimental value.

<center></center>
After getting a chance to play Fallout 3, what can you say you enjoyed most about the game?

Chad: I was surprised how much I liked VATS, which did a lot to soothe my irrational longing for turn-based combat. The few snippets of conversation we saw were also promising, but too brief to pass any real judgment.

Zac: I liked that I could start trouble with anyone I felt and that it didn’t feel like the game was pulling any punches. Also the atmosphere was dead-on.

Jav: Initially, I had concerns I’d spend all my time harvesting nirnroot to power my energy weapons. I really enjoyed the VATS system, it manages to keep the original flavor of gameplay while speeding up combat and making it less of a grind. After I unloaded a clip into a unsuspecting raider skull in slow-mo, I was sold.</blockquote>Link: Chatting with Vault Dwellers from PAX at BethBlog.

Thanks Ausir.

 

[aenemic]

haha, their answers almost make them sound like they're hired by Bethesda. could it be?

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

I wonder where Bethesda hired these three.

 

[Brother None]

Quit the personal attacks, guys, I already had to split a few posts.

These are just overenthused fans, no need to call them idiots or anything else for that.

 

[zbond]

Hey, this Zac, one of the idiots who dressed up for PAX. I've been reading NMA for a few years now, so I'd have to say the comments thus far are totally expected.

I will come to my own defense on a few points though. First off, while it would be great if we were being paid by Bethesda, sadly that is not the case (although we did get a bunch of swag).

I've been worrying about how Fallout 3 would turn out ever since I learned of Bethesda acquiring the rights, and after seeing and hearing more about it I'd pretty much resigned myself to a game that looked like Fallout but lacked the substance, and was hoping that some progress could be made on making it a better game once the SDK is released.

I'm not one of the people who thinks that it needs to have turn-based combat or an isometric viewpoint for it to be Fallout, so if that invalidates anything else I have to say you may as well stop reading now.

I decided not to pass judgment on the game until I had played it. What I got to see at PAX was pretty much what I had expected. It's unfortunate that they decided to use the Oblivion technology for the game, because that's what all the NPCs and monsters remind me of, and there's no getting around that. I'm still pretty mad that child-killing went out, and I told Todd Howard and Pete Hines that when I met them at the booth. Also I'm pretty sure the dialogue won't be up to snuff, but again, not anything I can be sure about since I haven't had enough time with the finished product yet (they let us play for about an hour), and also something that can be fixed with proper SDK tools.

They didn't exactly ask us what we didn't like about the game in the interview though, and why should they? It's their press.

The game did however play better than I had expected it to. It looked good and VATS honestly wasn't that intrusive. In a 3D Fallout I think I'd ultimately prefer a turn-based system more like KOTOR's, turn-based with the illusion of real-time, rather than the other way around, but that's the way they're making it.

The Bethesda guys were really nice to us and I could tell from speaking with Todd and Howard that they really did love Fallout. I don't think that Bethesda has particularly reached out to Fallout fans but then again I'd rather that someone take a stab at Fallout 3 than nobody. It's not like they're making another Fallout: POS.

Anyway, I just came here to say that I'm not a Bethesda stooge and offer my opinions of their game. Flame on.

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

Actually I didn't call them idiots, just where Bethesda got them from as they felt more like 'hired' fans to me.

 

[PaladinHeart]

... I'd rather that someone take a stab at Fallout 3 than nobody.

I feel the same way, though I know there's more than a few others here at NMA who'd rather be erecting a tombstone for dear old Fallout.

Although I am somewhat undecided as to whether I want to buy the game at launch or wait a few months and get it from the $20 bargain bin. I guess it depends on how bored I am next month. I just ordered Stalker and 7 more games for a little less than $40 (with shipping) so I might be busy for a while. Then again, most games last me for 2 or 3 days...

 

[Oh Snap!]

I refuse to pay Bethesda, but I'll certainly try it if there is another means to do so. It'll probably end up like most new releases. I'll play it for about 20 minutes, get bored, start to intentionally die for another 5 minutes, exit out, uninstall.

 

[thefalloutfan]

Ooo I like this.

I don't see why some guys attacked this lad, just a fan like any other who decided to dress up as a Vault Dweller.

Am I the only one who loves the BoS power armour? The helmet looks awesome imo. Then again I hated the regular BoS power armour in FO1, so..

 

[Paul_cz]

I LOVE that Pipboy. And thanks for those impressions.

 

[UncannyGarlic]

I was with you guys until the last two questions at which point I facepalmed. Your answer to what you liked most about the game sounds like one of those "Real customer testimonials!" on an infomercial and your answer to the last question showed a level of enthusiasm which doesn't really help your case as skeptics. Still, you're right that they aren't likely to post any interview which is damning and are likely to edit/modify any interview they do post to be as possitive as possible.

Out of curiosity, did you guys get more time with the game than most people at PAX? I thought people were only given 15 minutes there... Thumbs up on the costumes by the way.

 

[Seymour the spore plant]

Hey Zac, welcome to the forums. Just to clear things up, I'm guessing what ticked people off was probably that "irrational longing for turn-based combat" bit. It does seem like a godsend to Beth's PR department, and the gaming press has made people pretty paranoid about who is or not in their pocket.

I'm not one of the people who thinks that it needs to have turn-based combat or an isometric viewpoint for it to be Fallout, so if that invalidates anything else I have to say you may as well stop reading now.

The whole sequel/spin-off debate aside (which you are probably aware of, having lurked here), would you really say it is faithful enough to any of the other elements that comprised Fallout? Because it seems to me that even with regards to lore, setting and even feel it just doesn't cut it.

I'd rather that someone take a stab at Fallout 3 than nobody.

My problem with this line of thinking is that this Fallout 3 is effectively a tombstone for the franchise as we know and love it. If (or maybe I should say "when") it is successful, the odds of a future installment in the series resembling more the originals than Bethesda’s vision of it, gameplay and setting-wise, are nil.

Should the series have remained dead, it would likely lose some of its value (most people even say Beth paid too much as it was), and maybe could have been picked up by a company that would have done it more justice - say, Troika. I just can’t bring myself to prefer anyone taking a shot at it, especially if it buries the originals' entire design philosophy under TES-derivative elements forever.

 

[Ausir]

Beth licensed (and then bought) the franchise pretty soon after it was made available. It's not as if no one was interested in it for 6 years until Bethesda saved it by buying it.

 

[UncannyGarlic]

Oh by the way, you mention SDK a couple times and I thought I'd just remind you that they have said that they are not currently working on them while they have already started on DLC, so any hopes for changes/improvements from fans via SDK isn't going to happen in the short-term after Fallout 3 is released. That is all assuming that you don't have any new information regarding an SDK for Fallout 3.

 

[junkevil]

haha, their answers almost make them sound like they're hired by Bethesda. could it be?

i was just about to say the same thing.

 

[Mrxknown]

Hey, this Zac, one of the idiots who dressed up for PAX. I've been reading NMA for a few years now, so I'd have to say the comments thus far are totally expected.

...

The game did however play better than I had expected it to. It looked good and VATS honestly wasn't that intrusive. In a 3D Fallout I think I'd ultimately prefer a turn-based system more like KOTOR's, turn-based with the illusion of real-time, rather than the other way around, but that's the way they're making it.

...

Repeating what another asked, do you feel the game captures Fallout's atmosphere. When you play it, do you get the feeling it's Fallout and not some other post-apocalyptic game with Fallout referneces?

 

[zbond]

I was with you guys until the last two questions at which point I facepalmed. Your answer to what you liked most about the game sounds like one of those "Real customer testimonials!" on an infomercial and your answer to the last question showed a level of enthusiasm which doesn't really help your case as skeptics. Still, you're right that they aren't likely to post any interview which is damning and are likely to edit/modify any interview they do post to be as possitive as possible.

Out of curiosity, did you guys get more time with the game than most people at PAX? I thought people were only given 15 minutes there... Thumbs up on the costumes by the way.

We got about an hour with the game, which is more than most at PAX got. I can't vouch for my companions' answers to the final question, but I tried to pick what I liked and be honest about it. I personally don't feel that VATS equates to turn-based, but for a more in-depth explanation of that answer you'd have to talk to Chad

We passed the controller around and took turns with the game. We wanted to beeline straight to Megaton so we could check out the dialogue side of the game rather than combat, but we ran into a lot of encounters along the way. These weren't all necessarily combat encounters, such as the BOS paladin, however my reply "get that fucking gun out of my face," sort of turned it into a combat encounter, and she proceeded to light me up with her laser rifle. I liked that I could have the option of not taking any crap from an NPC obviously way more powerful than I was and that there were consequences for mouthing off. I think Bethesda took the criticism of level-scaling in Oblivion to heart, and that's what drove my final comment:

"Zac: I liked that I could start trouble with anyone I felt and that it didn’t feel like the game was pulling any punches. Also the atmosphere was dead-on."

The whole sequel/spin-off debate aside (which you are probably aware of, having lurked here), would you really say it is faithful enough to any of the other elements that comprised Fallout? Because it seems to me that even with regards to lore, setting and even feel it just doesn't cut it.

As far as lore, I wouldn't be able to tell, though apparently Bethesda are keeping a lot of the story of Fallout 3 close to the vest and assure us that everything will be faithful, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Ditto for setting. As for feel, that's the part where I'll say I was pleasantly surprised. Apart from the NPCs having that "Oblivion" feel to them, moving around in the wasteland and everything else just felt "right." I noticed while I was playing that the beams from a BOS laser rifle looked pretty much exactly like the ones in Fallout, only 3D. Whatever the flaws of the game, I feel that the level of quality on overall presentation is very high, and really does feel like Fallout to me.

Should the series have remained dead, it would likely lose some of its value (most people even say Beth paid too much as it was), and maybe could have been picked up by a company that would have done it more justice - say, Troika. I just can’t bring myself to prefer anyone taking a shot at it, especially if it buries the originals' entire design philosophy under TES-derivative elements forever.

That's a big "if," and while I loved Bloodlines, it really did have a lot of technical issues, and frankly Arcanum was crap. Also Troika went off the radar in 2005. I'd imagine a more likely scenario would be that someone like Bioware might pick it up, but then we could just take everything that's already been said and replace the word "Oblivion" with "Mass Effect" I guess it all comes down to personal choice. I'd rather have a Fallout than no Fallout.

Oh by the way, you mention SDK a couple times and I thought I'd just remind you that they have said that they are not currently working on them while they have already started on DLC, so any hopes for changes/improvements from fans via SDK isn't going to happen in the short-term after Fallout 3 is released. That is all assuming that you don't have any new information regarding an SDK for Fallout 3.

Actually, one of my first questions to Todd Howard was "Will I see a SDK?" to which I got the standard line, DLC, finishing the game, yada yada yada. Then I said "What about a year from now?" and he assured me that definitely within a year there would be a SDK. Of course this is off-record and I could be lying or remembering the conversation wrong, or he could have been blowing smoke up my ass to get me to stop asking questions, but hopefully all that's not the case. I told him the first thing I'd want is a child-killer mod. He and Pete laughed.

 

[Briosafreak]

The stuff you guys created is awesome, particularly the Pip-Boy.

 

[Public]

Well, calling Arcanum "crap" is a bit... harsh. I think it's unjustified to call the whole game crap, it had it's flaws, I know. Let's say it's not a game for the masses but some people love it. Including me.

Arcanum is crap, that people like it doesn't change that (nothing wrong with liking crap games or films).

Buggy, awful awful combat and balance, lot's of boring dungeons, rubbish XP system, un-engaging story, to much filler content.

good music, pretty decent story (I don't know what is wrong about it), miscellaneous world, good voice actors, the whole idea of magic and technology- pretty original.
VTM:Bloodline was much more buggy, so would you call that game "crap"? Don't think so, and it was made by the same developer. Troika was always on the line of bankruptcy, because they were doing games for fans not for masses. Take fu*king Bethesda, Oblivion was buggy as hell, and those bugs made the whole graphic worse, the story comparing to Arcanum was childish and uncreative. Voice actors in Arcanum were in very high quality (different accents, clear English speaking, more emotions through their speaking- good acting), and Oblivion- nothing special.
And still, Oblivion was called one of the best RPGs games ever? And you call Arcanum "crap"??

Arcanum was a good game, it wasn't crap, it wasn't "godly awesome", it was good.

 

[The Chosen Juan]

About BAWLS and it's role in the Penny Arcade Expo...

Hey Zac(Zbond),

Did you guys get to drink a lot of BAWLS at PAX?
(Note: BAWLS is the "official-unofficial" drink of the Penny Arcade Expo)