Gizmo

That's just part of the whole... Its [sort of] the same thing as as watching a musical and accepting that all the players burst into song. (It not exactly the same... but its similar). As for what fits and what doesn't... See I can accept a diner crowd breaking into a dance number, and an ex-fiance using a Light Anti tank Weapon at her ex-groom, and I can accept a blind pawn shop owner firing a pistol at a 13 year old as a warning shot, but I could never accept anyone in the film pulling a knife and stabbing someone with it. [i assume that most everyone here will immediately get the film reference ] Fallout had the RadScorpions from Damnation Alley, and it had a few quirks like pulling a minigun out of a skintight blue bodysuit... But on the whole it was quasi serious unless you were out in the wild [unexplored wasteland].

This mean what though? I mean really? The artist will work as told (and honestly, what need be different from them?); Coders couldn't care less, they design the behaviors asked of them. If someone can't do the job, they give them a different one or let them go... The established TES gameplay is unsuitable ~period... The engine I've no qualms with, and they are more than capable of twisting it any which way that they please ~so they could have made the game fit the expectations of the series. Irrelevant no? The point was not "whether they would", but rather "assuming it was given them to make such a game"... They don't [about Fallout], and they've proved it time and again using their own words, and press appearances. [and again with some of the changes in the DLC]. I've watched the Bethsoft Fallout threads from day one, and saw the infamous "suggest a perk" contest. [infamous because out of 17,000 entries they picked the one that ripped off Rune and devalues the AP's even more than they are normally]. They have done a fantastic job with the visuals ~the landscapes, the interiors (better than could be expected), They've set the perfect stage, but they shoot themselves in the foot with "out of series gameplay goals" ~designed for fans of different series. They studied Halo and Call of Duty to design their combat component instead of the previous 3 games in the series they were continuing. ~And the toilet drinking... All games have bugs and exploits but that is not something they missed. They had the budget to hire original team members to give them the inside understanding of the series that you just don't get from looking at the final result. ~Its like watching a blacksmith make an ornate Iron fitting... Just watching, and even studying the piece later, will not tell you how its done. Personally I'd have preferred them to have hired one or more of the series devs as consultants for a week (early in the planning stages) instead of Liam Neson. You don't do that with a sequel; What sense does it make to tie your new game to an old name that is not of interest to anyone but a previous fan? Why bother? You can take the basics and make the rest up and most people won't care. I think the great irony here would be Viking : Battle for Asgard for example, Creative Assembly I'd say they're well known for the accuracy of the Total war series, but Viking : Battle for Asgard is a damn perversion of norse mythology. Hollywood are the kings inaccuracy, they seem to get away with it . So really it depends on what you're intending to achieve with the game, a super realistic FPP title based on welsh myth would never make it past the first round of pitches at most if not all companies. Saying this is a means to avoid the analogy? Surely you catch that the subject itself is moot, its the simple premise that one hires help with a subject they are unsure of. I could point out fifty examples, but I expect giving a face to any would garner replies like "Plumbers have nothing to do with software design", or "Why would I need to hire an electrician to change a fuse" ~these are not the point.... (This is not solely at you ~yours was not too extreme, but so many from Bethsoft's threads take analogies dead-pan literally which is never appropriate.) Except that this was what the series was; Its what it was founded on and it was the point of the game... To take just the names and the mascot and brand an alien title with its name is disingenuous to say the least. Better left dead IMO... As much as I hate it... the old argument is true... McDonalds sells a lot of hamburgers, but that hardly makes them quality food, or does justice to the concept of a good burger ~But its what the masses want, and what they will pay for. FO3 is [a McHybrid RPGlite] and that's not a bad thing in and of itself, but its dragging the other two down. Consider Relics Dawn of War2, and Blizzard's Diablo 3, and Starcraft 2, and Disciples 3 from Akella/Dat ~sequels all, and it shows. It doesn't show in FO3. No offense taken ~I never do... ... But their respect (having read many reviews) often shows little knowledge or concern for the series integrity.

Yeah... "Obsidian Making Fallout:New Vegas" would be better suiting as a top level category with three or four threads within. (even if just those few.)

Not without mods ~But one never knows... Its not beyond all possibility for a pleasant surprise. ~Its better to hope for the best.

Is a team not made up of individuals? I'd say any team of professionals can adjust their work to an adjusted goal. If Their next game were for the NFL, or Nascar... (and it was worth a lot to them, do you really believe that they would not make it multiplayer and just clone Fallout 3? Do you think they would make tha NFL game in First Person?) As to extending their development cycle ~That's what they did with FO3 isn't it? They added things like partial dismemberment and raised the string limits for Dialog, and shader support. I mean, as close as it is to Oblivion its still got major differences that added to the development schedule far more time than perhaps anything suggested by fans that know the series better than them. ~(and they do) Hire a pro then (if even just as a consultant). ~Hire a pro consultant ~that's what they had for America's Army ~they had access to a military gun expert and someone who knew every piece of equipment that they were to make/model and have behave correctly (enough). If you're localizing a game for Romania [or Korea, or Germany, or Spain]... you hire someone that speaks the language and knows the customs /idioms / taboos. That's doesn't make your team redundant, it gives them a heads up to things they do not know, or might never perceive. If your game is a super realistic FPP title based on Welsh myth, would you have only the regular folks from the office write it for you(?), or would you at least hire a consultant that knows the material very ~very well and would know the names and the dates and the meanings ~[and not need weeks to research it]. Its not their game, its their hobby, and its Bethesda's blunder; Sure they made a bundle of cash by slashing the wrists of our hobby and using its life blood for their twice resurrected FPS/RPG-lite. But its not a proper series continuance and it omits most if not technically all of the game aspects that would mark it as a sequel. ~A sequel should not need to be branded, its usually plain to the eye ~and Fallout3 does not look like an advanced Fallout 2, does not play like one, and does not read like one (nor react like one). It is for all intents TES4

Except that the standard use of stims does seem to uncripple everything anyway...

Seconded! *and trivial to do, I'd think.

Fallout was serious in town, and weird in the wastes; F2 was weird in town and crazy in the wastes; F3 was crazy in town...

It was a really good animation ~ but I have to say that the first Fallouts did it better (*Not more realistic, just better.) **Yes the sound effects pretty much clinched it.

That'd be good... And IIRC, if the player was line of sight, then it killed him too.

Where were they in F1 & F2 (and why were the nukes so huge)? This means that they appeared in thirty years time after F2. ~Its moot anyway, as one could easily say, "but they were all in DC, and there weren't any in the Fallout 1 & 2 locations"... That wouldn't be true given the military bases and the Glow, but its beside the point. Even if it is accepted by all that its possible, it should not have been included except as a one shot easter egg weapon. (and never as a close range hand held gun ~Its round should rightly obliterate a few city blocks from a mile or two away).

~Its natural to assume that a professional can change styles to suit the project, while the amateur is stuck doing what they are accustomed to, and feels "out of their element" when asked to change. Hire a pro then (if even just as a consultant). da fug? It's just a bigger rocket launcher. Had it been, then that would have been fine. It never saw service as its range was not past the effects of the payload. (besides being stupid beyond belief. They actually mounted a few on Jeeps ~the better to steal them with ) No one individual should ever be given access to a point & shoot nuclear weapon. People are unpredictable and emotional ~and have tempers. ~A ticked off GI, might just drive a few miles out from the base and nuke his drill sargent from a safe distance. That's the gist of it right there!

Agreed. With an M-60, FaceGen, and them removing the hard coded starting age... I can make my character just as I want. *and be the "Shakiest Gun in the Waste"

The first two treated them with awe [nukes], and the third one made them a game unto itself. I got a lot of joy dropping a mininuke on top of a vertibird at max fatman range. The explosion was...impressive. Fallout 3 just trivialized the whole thing for me ~set the tone for the entire game

The first two treated them with awe [nukes], and the third one made them a game unto itself. **However, I'd have been fine with the thing allowing the player to actually wipe away map locations with one (and with very ~very few shots in the game.) FO Fatmans need to have standard chances for critical failures tho'. [just my 2

Years ago a bunch of guys got it into their heads that Predator was a cool movie, and "Old Painless" would work great as a means to clear helicopter landing sights in rough country. They really tried. They wanted a guy to drop down and spray the area but found out that the Mini-gun Mr. Ventura used could only run at a 1000RPM on the batteries instead of full speed. The battery cables were run up his pant-leg and he had to wear a flack vest to not get beat up from the shell casings; They found that a guy can't carry the power supply and the ammo [along with the gun itself] that would make it worth bringing; and if he did ~Firing it would spin him around like a top and shower his own team with bullets. (its the recoil on top of recoil on top of recoil on top of recoil.......). Thing is... Power is small and cheap in Fallout. Supermutants are strong ~Strong enough to do it (and they have the weight!); Power Armor should give the weight and the strength (the game F2 lists one at 45lbs. but that should be changed to 300lbs or more and limit the player to traveling on strong surfaces) ~Fallout 3+ should no longer allow an unarmored PC to use one [a sacrifice for the added "realism" that the new games are bent on providing]. IMO laser gats should have the advantage of being "light weight", and regular miniguns should have a real advantage for being able to hurl the lead (but be arduously heavy to haul, use, and maintain). Needless to say... it should also enforce a weight limit and penalties... you can't jump with a minigum and a flamer in your inventory now can you ~but then they never did in FO 1 & 2. ~Have it copy Halo a bit more (again) and be a two or three weapon game, not for only two slots, but for the weight. [iE pistols and rifles, grenades and more ~or a missile launcher with 10 rockets ~Or a minigun with three cases of ammo (generous)].

No That's not it... The engine is very flexible [no emulation needed ]... but it need not be a Fallout 1 clone... (Though I'm having a blast myself )

Have you played the originals (1 or 2) (I don't have a snazzy clip of legible retorts and responses, but I can show you a bit of how the NPC's talk back to you)... ~You getr this one in Fallout 2 if you have a low INt. *And this one the same, but in Fallout 1

Its not just the name ~well its mostly the name... I printed up a DVD case cover to replace mine that got torn...

I can accept that ~I can't identify with it though...

Agree 100% Had it not sought to eclipse, but made plain that it was a new game set in the FO gameworld ~who of the "hardcore" fans would have accused a branded spin-off of not being a faithful sequel? (Accusing someone of not making a faithful sequel perhaps... but really I doubt there would have been much fuss by series fans ~most [i think] would have bought it sight unseen.

I guess I just found any tactical maneuvering unnecessary since calling shots would just end up with dead baddies in a few rounds at the most. Called shots were deadly in the end game, but Aimed shots in general were seemingly tougher to hit with until you were really really good. Getting that good up-front really screwed you up for anything but combat, and there were things you could not get unless you had put your points in non-combat skills. My favorite fight in Fallout is a toss up between two fights (both in the Hub, and both best fought early). They are the fight with Decker, and the rescuing of the kidnapped BOS knight. No amount casual clicking will win those fights with certainty, and unless you have heavy armor and weapons, its very easy to get killed, or have your NPC's get killed. Its a risky pair of fights ~especially if you are not the type to reload after your NPC gets killed.

I don't think it was unplayable, but compared to games like XCOM and Jag 2, Fallout's combat was pretty pedestrian. It didn't even have interrupts/opportunity fire, iirc. WHich is almost required for TB combat, to help gave the combat a bit more ebb and flow ~And NPC's themselves were a last minute hack... No It was the pinnacle of TB combat, but I expected a revised and improved combat system from FO:Tactics; That they cloned TES4 and added guns was a shock.

*I'm just starting work on some FO3 mods that I hope might be easily ported to FO:New Vegas when it comes out (and if needed). As there is no other thread...