On the Platform Nation special PAX podcast, they managed to get an interview with Todd Howard. One of the new pieces of info is that during Speed Runs of the game, people in the Bethesda Offices have managed to beat the game in only an hour and thirty minutes. Other than that:<blockquote>(...) We hear a lot of complaining about [switches to nasal, whiny tone] this isn't Fallout, man, you've changed our game, what do you...
[Todd interrupting] I don't think they use that tone of voice.
(laughing, joking)
Did that ever enter your mind: how are we going to not going to alienate the hardcore Fallout fans.
Well, we had a good idea of what we wanted to do with it, so we were pretty sure we were going to get it full bore. 'cause we knew we were going to make some changes that we thought would make a more fun game, but I think you take those risks and with anything - like Fallout - that has such a big following and is such a classic I think you have to be ready to get some of that. I think a lot of those people actually, if you read through some of the language they use, the things they care about are things we care about, making choices, being able to roleplay, talking to people and I think that because of the way the game is presented - it comes across as a big first person gorefest - that it gets lost that that stuff is in the game. You kind of just tell them that hey, look, we're big Fallout fans too, we didn't spend 4 years of our lives and millions and millions of dollars on this game because we want to fuck it up, right, we really like it, we wanted to make this game. The things people like about Fallout - we feel - are in it.</blockquote>Say what you want about Bethesda, but even when openly baited by journalists they refuse to take cheap shots at the (hardcore) community. Some journalists could really learn a lesson in professional behaviour from that.
Nice going avoiding mention of pen and paper emulation in the list of things people - including the original developers - list as liking in Fallout there, tho'.
Platform Nation @ PAX08: Day Three
[Todd interrupting] I don't think they use that tone of voice.
(laughing, joking)
Did that ever enter your mind: how are we going to not going to alienate the hardcore Fallout fans.
Well, we had a good idea of what we wanted to do with it, so we were pretty sure we were going to get it full bore. 'cause we knew we were going to make some changes that we thought would make a more fun game, but I think you take those risks and with anything - like Fallout - that has such a big following and is such a classic I think you have to be ready to get some of that. I think a lot of those people actually, if you read through some of the language they use, the things they care about are things we care about, making choices, being able to roleplay, talking to people and I think that because of the way the game is presented - it comes across as a big first person gorefest - that it gets lost that that stuff is in the game. You kind of just tell them that hey, look, we're big Fallout fans too, we didn't spend 4 years of our lives and millions and millions of dollars on this game because we want to fuck it up, right, we really like it, we wanted to make this game. The things people like about Fallout - we feel - are in it.</blockquote>Say what you want about Bethesda, but even when openly baited by journalists they refuse to take cheap shots at the (hardcore) community. Some journalists could really learn a lesson in professional behaviour from that.
Nice going avoiding mention of pen and paper emulation in the list of things people - including the original developers - list as liking in Fallout there, tho'.
Platform Nation @ PAX08: Day Three
