Wombat

Do you mean the super mutant with a wig and the spectacles? It must be Tabitha...according to the article.

As expected, FO:Vegas seems to be finally in right hands. As I read the article, I enjoyed it the brief play-through and feel the designers must be enjoying making the game. With the reputation system and more skill-focused conversation system, it must be fun to play as a Charisma Boy/Gal. The sense of humor is also good. Er...do male characters have one more weak point than their female counterparts...I mean, the body part where "Fore!" landed...

Watched the new trailer at GameTrailers. I dropped by just to show somebody who doesn't frequent the boards still interested in your works, Obsidian.

Yeah, isn't that one of FO3's worse aspects, though? In the "just out of the vault" scene, I don't even remember if any special sound effects or music are played. And despite having an awesome idea (listening to radio stations), they ended up with a half-assed Black Courier-jukebox hybrid. Funny, because some of the stations you can pick up, and the areas/sidequests they are associated with are very good and contribute a lot to the atmosphere; incidentally, they are also a good example of how you don't need a textbox to set the mood. But the freaking MAIN radio station of the wasteland gets repetitive after about twenty minutes. But man, how can you feel anything BUT love for Qui-Gon Jinn? Hahaha. It's a kind of old trick in an attempt to make the players to sympathize with the protagonist although there are differences depending on executions. Remember Gorion in Baldur's Gate? In an interview at Eurogamer, Emil agreed when the interviewer point out that the role of the father of the protagonist in FO3 may be similar to that of Paul Denton in Deus Ex. I haven't played FO3 and I cannot tell whether the execution was done well or not, though.

In fact, it's far from a new question. Ulysses, for example, being full of "stream of consciousness", is often said to be hard to be made into a film. I also agree that narration is woven into FO rather nicely although FO is basically a sandbox type role-playing game. Occasional narration wouldn't hurt although, like cut-scenes, I guess it can be felt imposing, too, if it it is overdone. That said, in s sandbox type of game, I think "building" the world so that the players can feel it in more direct manner is not a bad design direction. To enhance the experience, "lore" in Shock series and Morrowind (probably overdone with this one since some people don't seem to have read lore) would help without stepping on the foot of the player. At least, we don't need to take effects direct to our senses and literary expressions mutually exclusive. I'd rather like to see they are blended in a natural way to build nice game-play experiences. Like with films and novels, I think there must be an optimized way in presentation with games. After all, these details in actual executions are in the hands of the designers.

What I mean to say is not that imagination only has a part in text-based forms. I'm using imagination here very conservatively-- Focusing the mind to construct a world out of descriptive text. My point was that words lack what video and audio cues have and vice versa. They're both completely means to the same end. The end being, in this case, describing a smell. I think that if the player is fully entrenched ("IMMERSED" is what i think the PR people want me to say) in a game world, or meant to be, I think it's awkward and pointless to try to construct an imaginary world with text that looks and acts exactly the same way If you pull out and increase the emotional distance, it's more appropriate. If New Vegas did turn out to be isometric, I'd be all for it. I'm not saying text is worse than cool grafix, I'm just saying that it's much less appropriate in the type of game Fallout 3 (and likely New Vegas) are trying to be. Do I wish they were trying to be an isometric game with lots of text? Yes, of course! Then, I agree with your conclusion while I'm bit lost with the argument about imagination. In Kantian epistemology, imagination plays a role which is similar to what you described, means, focusing the mind to construct a world out of..., here, although you wrote descriptive text, I'd point out that it can be replaced by any sensory perceptions as well since the reality itself is constructed by functions of our mental/physical abilities. In fact, in modern gaming, a computer presents a "world" for human-beings in a way they recognize it by employing physics engines and psychoacoustic processing, which constructs an imaginary "world" to present it to human-beings or players through pictures and sounds so that the players can "experience" the world. This is why, while back, I showed my skepticism to illusion argument because its nativity. Also, there was another argument about the fact Bethesda didn't even try to "realize" FO3 world using real life measurements of Washington. However, I guess I have rumbled a bit. Basically, these things are made based on make-belief and I'd like the designers to employ any means available for them in order to let our game play experiences memorable.

Sorry for being off topic but I guess we talked about possible problems since we are basically happy with the news.

I see. Even in that case, I guess I'd better wait. I'm currently on Pen 4 and I'd like to skip Core 2 series so that I don't have to change motherboards in a hectic fashion. Yes, I hear good things about it. XP is said to be stable because it is 5.1 while Windows 2000 5.0, so, I guess Windows 7 is tested through Vista, at least, to some extent.

Off Topic Hmmm...I don't think you are wrong, either. Processors also seem to have such energy consumption/performance control such as Intel's SpeedStep technology. I definitely like my computer to be optimized for the current tasks they are performing. Having a mid range computer is in my mind at the moment but the range's CPU roadmap seems to be still in confusion and, even if Windows 7 is Windows 6.1, while Vista being Windows 6.0, it is a "new" OS.

Yes but it is definitely increasing. Considering my daily tasks, I don't seem to need a powerful computer. I didn't know that since I don't check the news for console. Wiki tells me you are right...Psychonauts was on the consoles if not exclusively so.

I watch films as well as reading novels and I don't even try to decide which of them is a better form. They are just different types of presentations and I simply want to see them in most optimized forms. Answer. The. Question. How? I agree that it's a rather weak argument. Imagination plays a great role in any art form but it is tough to be defined...even in Kantian philosophy.

Congrats on the console debut, Tim Schafer. A sad part is that I don't have a device exclusively for gaming. Comparing the price tags and the energy consumption of office PCs with those of gaming PCs, it may be good for me to buy a console but I play only a few games once a year...

Thanx for the info. Then, guess it's one-sided communication device although it is somehow tied to quest developments.

The idea I had in my mind when I wrote about Shalebridge Cradle (a level of Thief Deadly Shadows) while back was that there must be a way to reduce texts without reduce the content. Especially something like Alien setting, I think it can be a way to deal with the issue about reduced texts. So, I guess I basically agree that it would be suitable for the designers to use all means at their hands. Talking of Aliens, how was "radio" in FO3? Is there way for the radio communication to work with the atmosphere and/or story direction? From what I read, it seems to be nothing more than a jukebox to receive radio broadcast. Also, gameplay-wise, in FO, IIRC, there was a radio transmitter. In FO 3, is there a way for scientist type character, for example, catches the transmissions between third party organization and spy on them and/or feeding them wrong information?

Well, I liked the books, in both MW and in Oblivion, and I liked the holotapes in FO3. Any device which can flesh out the story is a plus for me. I also liked the visual storytelling in FO3. There were plenty of times in FO3 when I paused to determine just what happened in a place. The placement of bodies, blood stains on the floor and the walls, all told the story of a last stand, or a gunfight, or a lingering death. Although I wonder if it can replace what there are in texts, I agree that letting environments tell stories can be an option which also makes the graphic improvements more meaningful than just eye-candies. I think there have been quite many efforts in this respect and they say Dead Space did this well (I haven't played it). However, I didn't know Bethesda did it in FO3. Then again, watching the video of Point Lookout shows some Cthulhu feel. Especially in such setting, the atmosphere and writings can be combined into interesting effects, although this is not new or original. In fact, some people say Dead Space reminds them of System Shock 2. The same scheme has been being used in many other games (I think I wrote about a map of Thief 3 while back). Among them, however, I think Morrowind is unique in a way it tries to tell various stories about a world inhabited by various people with different cultural backgrounds. Of course, Morrowind is a different type of beast compared with FO and, probably, it would be interesting to see what Bethesda did in Point Lookout since it seems to be about an area devoid of human beings. The setting may be good for the feel of isolation but not so many people seem to be alive to tell the players stories. In this type of setting, I think System Shock 2 scheme would find its place.

I liked the skill books since it was clear & plausible how one would learn something by reading it and put nicely in context of a story. In a way it was very similar from how skills are learnt in Gothic 3, where one needs to talk to a trainer that shares some of his wisdom, except it is put in book-form. Collecting books was one of my favourite pastimes in Morrowind - their point is largely to make players that are interested more acquainted with the lore & history of the world, so it's logical that they wouldn't be short & succinct. Oblivion... totally fails when it comes to books. Only interesting, new book I can remember is one dealing with vampire lore. I think an entire new ES game could be made based on "The real Barenziah" or "History of the Wolf Queen". Oh, and I want the stuff that the guy (Michael Kirkbride) was smoking when he wrote "36 lessons of Vivec". I can only thing of one other game that allowed the player to read books in such detail, and that's The Longest Journey. To my eyes, too, Oblivion has lost the charm which its predecessor had. The story-telling device of Morrowind is, although the approach may be different from that of dialogue focused ones, unique and interesting. The books in Morrowind are written in order to stimulate the imagination of the players and merge it with the unique-looking world. I think the play experiences between the players who read these books and who don't must be pretty different. They even helped the players to imagine the context of rather abstract responses of NPCs since they let the players glimpse at quite complex history and different views from various cultural backgrounds. Unfortunately, the majority probably don't read the books, ending up with experiencing only "robotic NPCs" and a "weird world". In Oblivon, I can think of only one quest which is tied to history of a long forgotten fortress, which was rather nicely done, though. I guess this kind of lore cannot be popular in the current CRPGs and we probably shouldn't expect many of these things in FO:NV. Even making a single mystery-like quest which require the players to figure out what is happening/happened through written texts, might scare away some players.

Hopelessly off topic Core i7 can be one of the options and I think it would be better than choosing Core Duo but, including it, I'd wait and see how thing will turn out. My current PC is working fine for daily tasks and I don't think there is an urgent need to buy/build a new PC. In any case, I guess we've gone too far into the deep realm of Offtopicdom.

I won't buy Core i 5 or any other new component the moment it comes out (It would be far from the situation in which "things are settled"). However, now that Intel told that they will discontinue Core 2, it would not be wise to buy it at the moment, either. Furthermore, Core i 7 is too high end and resource-hungry (Core i5 seems to be going to have more modest profile). In any case, the timing doesn't seem to be good for a new PC. I'll wait and see till everything is settled as I have written twice already. The same thing goes to Alpha Protocol. Its success would depend mostly on the console market and I don't think whether my modest self buys it on its release date or not matters much.

Off Topic Thanks but, as I wrote, I did my research. Searching for further information doesn't quicken the time for Intel to release Core i5 CPU and for other makes to release compatible parts, for example. What I have to do is to wait till things are settled and, as I said, there is no hassle for me.

I actually had the opposite response. This is why I think working on real-world games with real-world problems and themes is important. People are more likely to take games seriously if they deal with actual problems instead of vaguely displaced angst. That's one of the parts I'm interested in about AP since RPGs are too often taken as mere escapism rather than some experiments about real world issues which make the players think. As far as I can remember, I think games which took the closest approach to this were Deus Ex series. However, I haven't upgraded my PC for so long time that I need to build/buy a new PC. After I made a brief research on this, I've found neither Intel or AMD has a clear roadmap and I guess I'd better wait till things including the upcoming Windows OS are settled. Since my current computer is still good enough for daily tasks, there is no need for me to hassle, either. I guess I'd better spend my time on other things than gaming for a while. Even if AP is released as scheduled, I'm probably not going to buy it, at least, till next year due to the "technical issue".

If you are saying that the setting of the Witcher is awkwardly stuck somewhere between classic Roman pragmatism vs Celtic romanticism and modern global capitalism vs "terrorism", then, I'd agree with you. I, too, found the depiction of elven society is not convincing due to their overly romantic narcissism. Although the world was quite atmospheric, the supposed parallelism to modern society in the Witcher is not enough convincing in some other areas, too. Generally speaking, such parallelism is more suitable to Sci-Fi than to fantasy genre. And now, Bioware is trying to combine realism with epic fantasy... In any case, the stories and characters from Bioware are not my cup of tea and, if I'm going to buy Dragon Age, it is just for tactical combat. At least, I should be happy with the lack of the morality slider and the consequent repetitive and pointless "choices."

You mean the Witcher? Such plot works since the setting, where witchers are half-human and half-monster. In Dragon Age's case, the protagonist can have six origins, through the eyes of each standpoint, players are introduced to the world of complex social structure, well, at least more complex than your old fantasy settings are. The players probably need to do gray choices during the course of the game, which is probably more convincing than good/evil morality choices. The downside to me is that it's still a Bioware work, where the protagonist must be a hero/heroine for an "epic" adventure. *mild spoiler for DA is ahead* Whichever origin the protagonist is from, he/she is going to be recruited to Grey Wardens, the elite warriors dedicated to fight against a common threat to the whole world and be destined to save it with similarly recruited members of various backgrounds. *fanfare* Well, I hope the combat is not going to s*ck.

That's not "Fallout" to me. It's the core factor which characterizes it. The word illusion doesn't mean anything since, at the end of the day, any art form including literature can be called illusion, of which, I think, good artists and writers are conscious. I wish CRPGs were deeper and I think some works have potentials. In such works, I find interesting themes and/or thought experiments which can not be/or at least tough to be done in other materials. I don't like them to give up the potentials and consider it to be just "light entertainment." For I think I shouldn't spend my time on something I can regard "disposable."

Relax. I passed no judgment. It simply that I feel that gaming may be slowly disappearing from my hobby list.

I have no idea why so many people play FO3 while complaining of it... I wonder if I'm getting jaded but I became really selective in terms of the games. As for the radio, it would be interesting if the radio reacts to what the protagonist did directly or indirectly.