Jörg Langer has posted a full English translation of the E3 interview he conducted for golem.de with Bethesda's Pete Hines.<blockquote>Jörg: Why did you choose to do the game in 3D? Was is just inevitable considering you’ve did Oblivion before that?
Pete Hines: Certainly the technology we had and could build on was a factor. But ultimately, as fans of the series, we were very intrigued to immerse you in this world. And what is a better way of immersing you in this universe than first person, where you don’t see things in an abstract way, where you can walk up to stuff and touch it? There’s this chair which was like 4 pixels in the original Fallout, and now it’s there, it’s got a surface, you can sit in there!
Jörg: But what if the old Fallout fans do not like it? Won’t they look for the isometric top-down-view instead of Gears of War?
Pete Hines: There are lots of Fallout fans. I’m a Fallout fan! I am personally interested in another game set in that universe, that is true to the kind of game experience that the first two titles provided! I’m not married to the perspective, I’m not married to whether combat is turn based or real time or a sort of hybrid. If you’re someone that believes it has to be isometric and turn based, then you’ll probably be unhappy. But if you’re interested in another game in that great, rich universe, that has great texture and tone and characters, then hopefully Fallout 3 will be something which will resonate with you. At the end of the day, we can’t make a game that’s all things to all people.
Jörg: And of course you want to sell some numbers which would hardly be possible with an old school tactical game.
Pete Hines: Probably not. But we really felt 3D was the best thing to go for, was the best for the Fallout experience. Because I’m really in this world, I’m really doing this, instead of just looking at those characters down there.</blockquote>Interestingly, this interview asks much tougher, and more in-depth, questions than is usual; it is well worth reading.
Link: Pete Hines: Fallout 3 at Jörg Spielt.
Pete Hines: Certainly the technology we had and could build on was a factor. But ultimately, as fans of the series, we were very intrigued to immerse you in this world. And what is a better way of immersing you in this universe than first person, where you don’t see things in an abstract way, where you can walk up to stuff and touch it? There’s this chair which was like 4 pixels in the original Fallout, and now it’s there, it’s got a surface, you can sit in there!
Jörg: But what if the old Fallout fans do not like it? Won’t they look for the isometric top-down-view instead of Gears of War?
Pete Hines: There are lots of Fallout fans. I’m a Fallout fan! I am personally interested in another game set in that universe, that is true to the kind of game experience that the first two titles provided! I’m not married to the perspective, I’m not married to whether combat is turn based or real time or a sort of hybrid. If you’re someone that believes it has to be isometric and turn based, then you’ll probably be unhappy. But if you’re interested in another game in that great, rich universe, that has great texture and tone and characters, then hopefully Fallout 3 will be something which will resonate with you. At the end of the day, we can’t make a game that’s all things to all people.
Jörg: And of course you want to sell some numbers which would hardly be possible with an old school tactical game.
Pete Hines: Probably not. But we really felt 3D was the best thing to go for, was the best for the Fallout experience. Because I’m really in this world, I’m really doing this, instead of just looking at those characters down there.</blockquote>Interestingly, this interview asks much tougher, and more in-depth, questions than is usual; it is well worth reading.
Link: Pete Hines: Fallout 3 at Jörg Spielt.
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