Fallout 3

[Enoch]

Ha! The agency I work for made it into the game a little bit!

 

In an undifferentiated office building involved in a minor quest, there is an active computer terminal that that has a little message from an employee at the time the bombs were dropped. Under her name, it indicates that she worked for the same agency I do. They moved our offices from DC to the VA side of the river, though...

[mkreku]

You know what I just realized? I realized that Amata (your interest/girlfriend in Vault 101) was voiced by this girl:

 

 

Odette Yustman

 

Now I like Fallout 3 even more!!

[Nightshape]

You know what I just realized? I realized that Amata (your interest/girlfriend in Vault 101) was voiced by this girl:

 

 

Odette Yustman

 

Now I like Fallout 3 even more!!

 

... *oops* messy :D

[alanschu]

Picked this up the other day and am having a blast. I am a bit disappointed that I seem to have to use the subways to navigated much of the urban areas, but it's been pretty minor.

 

I really get the impression that I am exploring a desolate wasteland. I love looking into the horizon and seeing a vast landscape of blown out buildings.

 

 

I'm only part way into the main plot (been to Washington Monument). Have helped out the people in Megaton and Big Town.

Edited January 3, 2009 by alanschu

[mkreku]

Don't try to avoid the subject. We know why you're playing Am.. er Fallout 3 all of a sudden.

[alanschu]

Would you blame me!?!

[Musopticon?]

In other news, it's great that Bethsoft finally got over their ugliest npcs ever syndrome. For instance, in Megaton, both the Sheriff, Nova, the water treatment dude who loves his scrap iron, Nathan and addict guy are very good attempts.

 

Then again, some of the raiders are hilarious. The head shot gib effect is often a blessing, honestly.

[Nightshape]

In other news, it's great that Bethsoft finally got over their ugliest npcs ever syndrome. For instance, in Megaton, both the Sheriff, Nova, the water treatment dude who loves his scrap iron, Nathan and addict guy are very good attempts.

 

Then again, some of the raiders are hilarious. The head shot gib effect is often a blessing, honestly.

 

Now then, now then, lets face it, the artwork, and animation is still ****.

[Gorgon]

I dunno, compared to what. Animation is pretty basic but world and structural artwork is really rather good.

 

The shape tool you are supposed to use to create your char takes years to get the hang of, at least they have provided a few semi decent premade faces. Interestingly they made exactly the same mistake as in Oblivion. After you have spent 30mins fine tuning your appearance you step out into the light and realize the tone in your face doesn't match that of your body.

[Morgoth]

You know what I just realized? I realized that Amata (your interest/girlfriend in Vault 101) was voiced by this girl:

 

 

Odette Yustman

 

Now I like Fallout 3 even more!!

I bet Todd hand-picked her pesonally!

 

Good choice.... I mean as an voice actor.

[Nightshape]

I dunno, compared to what. Animation is pretty basic but world and structural artwork is really rather good.

 

The shape tool you are supposed to use to create your char takes years to get the hang of, at least they have provided a few semi decent premade faces. Interestingly they made exactly the same mistake as in Oblivion. After you have spent 30mins fine tuning your appearance you step out into the light and realize the tone in your face doesn't match that of your body.

 

It suffers from all the same flaws that Oblivion had.

 

To me personally it looks sub-par, They really have supplied bare minimum as far as I can see.

 

but graphics ain't everything... Infact it's unimportant, well until someone thinks it looks good, but seriously, it's the gameplay that makes FO3 so much fun.

 

The environments, and characters could be better, but they don't need to be better, what is does the job well enough... But I'm not going to be the one saying "WOW what a pretty looking game", it's fugly.

[Tigranes]

I thought Oblivion was pretty in general. It had very poor ground textures at a distance, it had very ugly people whose models were simply wrong from the ground up and the animations were silly, but the rest was fine. Now, those are not small failures, but on all three counts I think Fallout 3 improved, to varying degrees. It is indeed adequate for the job it does.

[Slowtrain]

After you have spent 30mins fine tuning your appearance you step out into the light and realize the tone in your face doesn't match that of your body.

 

 

Really? They didn't fix that? Pretty poor. It was especially bad with female characters in Oblivion, since the female pc would have its hands and face "lightened", thus increasing the difference in tone from the body.

 

This lightening process did not appear with the male pc avatars. One can only assume it was implemented to create a specific look for female avatars, ie females have paler hands and faces or something.

 

Really, the entire face gen system in Oblivion was pretty poor and took hours of practice and experimentation to get to work well, especially with the skin tones. It was especially difficult since creating a darkening or shadowing of one area of the face would create lightening (or even more darkening) in another area. Plus, as Gorgon points out, due to the way face gen works, a tone that looks OK in one light looks awful in all others.

 

Plus the 2 areas where one could officially use the face gen system in Oblivion were both problematic. The first area, the starter cell in the imperial prison, was quite dark and due to teh torchlight faces looked much redder than in other areas. The second area, just before you leave the sewer, was hideously overexposed due to the bright light sourcing from the sewer entrance, and any face created to look good there, looke dimmeditaely awful once you exited the sewer.

 

The only was to use the face gen system well was to get your avatar into a neuteral light area outside the prison and use the SHOW RACE MENU console command to bring up the face editor. Bummer for console users.

 

I was hoping, due to how bad the face gen system was implemented in Oblivion, that it would have been improved or even replaced in Fallout 3.

 

No such luck, I guess.

 

 

http://www.facegen.com/

 

Is this still the one Beth is using in FO3?

Edited January 5, 2009 by CrashGirl

[Hurlshort]

Well, at least we can blame some of the deformities in Fallout 3 on irradiated water.

[Slowtrain]

Well, at least we can blame some of the deformities in Fallout 3 on irradiated water.

 

 

Drinking out of toilets is never a good thing. Even in a PA wasteland.

[Gorgon]

The only was to use the face gen system well was to get your avatar into a neuteral light area outside the prison and use the SHOW RACE MENU console command to bring up the face editor. Bummer for console users.

But doing that would also reset certain parameters in your game, potentially ruining quests. They put an extra option for changing your hair and face in game in F03, but lo and behold if the face surgery option isn't in dark rather than natural light as well.

Edited January 5, 2009 by Gorgon

[Killian Kalthorne]

Early version of the Fatman, the M65 Recoiless Nuclear Rifle.

 

 

[Gfted1]

You didnt know that was a real weapon?

[Killian Kalthorne]

No, not at all. I figured no one would be that silly to make such a weapon in real life.

[Gfted1]

LOL, cold war mentality for you. Wiki link

[wesley2]

LOL, cold war mentality for you. Wiki link

Wow, that's remarkable I would have had no idea that it was real I thought it was just overactive imaginations at Bethsoft. That's so funny.

[Tigranes]

Yeah, there's a semblance of reality in the Fat Man, which is pretty amazing. The 'unrealistic' bit about the Fat Man would be, I guess, how tiny and portable it is, and how widely available it is.

 

But then, you could stretch weirder things than that in any Fallout, what with those aliens and whatnot. I think FM is stupid for one thing only - how it trivialises nuclear power, which is so poignant in the setting otherwise. I got by fine without it.

[Enoch]

But then, you could stretch weirder things than that in any Fallout, what with those aliens and whatnot. I think FM is stupid for one thing only - how it trivialises nuclear power, which is so poignant in the setting otherwise. I got by fine without it.

I don't really see the poignancy in popping a few pills to instantly cure radiation sickness or in charging up the Highwayman with a fusion power cell. What poignancy Fallout had came from personal interactions (e.g., the Vault Dweller's exile at the close of FO1) and from human nature in general. (It was "War never changes," not "Nuclear power never changes.")

[Tigranes]

True, but I could always accept RadAway/Rad-X as a necessary gameplay mechanic. You could easily do without the Fat Man or the Highwayman, but without the pills?

 

I guess it's all a matter of degrees though.

[CoM_Solaufein]

1950's America was nuclear powered crazy, just like the game exhibits. We had glow in the dark watches that used Radium, Fat Man type of weapons and nuclear powered cars that look similar to the Highwayman. Surprisingly we didn't have any beverages like Nuka Cola and its various flavors.