Jump to content
The Community Blog (An Invitation)

Fallout: New Vegas

CoM_Solaufein

By CoM_Solaufein
in Computer and Console

 Share

Recommended Posts

Nemo0071

Nemo0071

Posted
Posted

I thought it was the New Vegas thread.

 

Now I have the urge to buy that Fallout Trilogy pack... How did that happen? :)

 

 

BTW if anyone here knows a mod or something to make FO1&2 inventory more user-friendly (kinda like Tactics) I'd be all over it. o:)

"Save often!" -The Inquisitor

 

"Floss regularly!" -also The Inquisitor

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Azdeus

Azdeus

Posted
Posted
I thought it was the New Vegas thread.

 

Now I have the urge to buy that Fallout Trilogy pack... How did that happen? :)

 

 

BTW if anyone here knows a mod or something to make FO1&2 inventory more user-friendly (kinda like Tactics) I'd be all over it. o:)

 

Killap's Restoration Project for Fallout 2.

 

If I remember correctly, his patch fixes some inventory issues, lets you scroll with the mousewheel. There's a simple unofficial patch somewhere there aswell, but I've got a bad headache - and don't have the energy to find it for you right now.

Civilization, in fact, grows more and more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes; the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary. - H.L. Mencken

Link to comment
Share on other sites
funcroc

funcroc

Posted
Posted (edited)

Kotaku - How To Write A Post Apocalyptic RPG, The Fallout: New Vegas Way

It starts with a box, says the developer of the follow up to the hugely successful Fallout 3. Oh, but don't call that box a post apocalyptic role-playing game. That's a pretty crappy way to describe it.

 

So says, Fallout: New Vegas lead creative designer John Gonzalez, the man responsible for the over-arching story in the game. Obsidian calls that "box" the "series of parameters that the story will take place in." It's a concept, a set of boundaries within to work.

 

Gonzalez talked about the key influences and key components of Fallout: New Vegas at Comic-Con today, saying that a Fallout game is not just about barren wastelands and mutants, but "ultimately about your experiences" in the world, how you interact with characters and how you overcome obstacles, whether through brains or brawn or stealth tactics.

 

Crucial to the success of Fallout 3 experience was its signature city, a decimated Washington D.C. So, how did Obsidian settle on a post-nuclear Sin City?

 

"We were all pretty drunk one night and we thought, not only should we go to Vegas," Gonzalez joked "we should make it the setting of the next Fallout." When Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart asked Gonzalez to be the creative lead on the game, he likened it to a religious experience.

 

Gonzalez, who claimed he was first in line at his local GameStop for the midnight launch of Fallout 3, said "It's like God coming down to you and saying 'Hey John, I'd like you to write another chapter of the Bible, take it in any direction that you want.'"

 

The Fallout: New Vegas creative lead said the books that he drew inspiration from included Las Vegas: An Unconventional History and Cormac McCarthy's The Road. The "non-Brad Pitt, de-Clooneyfied Ocean's Eleven" and indie flick Six String Samurai were his noteworthy film influences. Gangster Bugsy Siegel, the Rat Pack and eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes were also influential. Gonzalez said to pay attention to characters throughout the game to see if you can spot their New Vegas counterparts and the influence of the "Giltter Gulch old style Vegas."

 

Gonzalez said he immersed himself in the first three Fallout games, replaying each and going on a 14-hour-long writing bender at a local coffee shop "vomiting forth the first draft of the Fallout: New Vegas story treatment."

 

That said, "no one can get this right on the first try," he stressed, saying that writers should "write and write and write" to perfect the story. Or, to put it more bluntly, "sit the **** down and write."

Edited by funcroc
Link to comment
Share on other sites
WDeranged

WDeranged

Posted
Posted (edited)

In the original Fallouts I mostly just aimed for the eyes and groin like I assume most people did after building their skills up, although to be fair crippling actually did something in the first two games and I did find myself aiming for limbs now and then, in fact during the Horrigan fight in Fo2 I found it *absofrickinlutely* necessary to cripple his limbs or I just couldn't win.

 

Fallout 3 on the other hand makes aiming for limbs practically worthless, yep there's a minor effect but it's so damn miniscule you might as well just always go for the head...which I did, over and over, until I found a mod called Amplified Crippled Effects which made things work more like you'd expect them to.

 

I've got my fingers crossed that they sort this out in New Vegas :p

Edited by WDeranged
Link to comment
Share on other sites
funcroc

funcroc

Posted
Posted (edited)

Gamespot: Fallout devs on thinking inside the box

Comic-Con 2010: Obsidian creative leads Chris Avellone, John Gonzalez, and George Ziets describe the story-development process on New Vegas and Dungeon Siege 3.

 

Who was there: The "Fallout: Writing for Evolving Game Franchises" panel at this year's Comic-Con featured a slightly misleading title, as it involved both Fallout: New Vegas and Dungeon Siege 3, both of which are in production at Obsidian Entertainment. The studio's creative director and cofounder Chris Avellone was joined by creative leads John Gonzalez (Fallout: New Vegas) and George Ziets (Dungeon Siege 3).

 

What they talked about: Avellone kicked off the panel by giving a bit of background on how Obsidian approaches game design. The studio, which was founded by several veteran members of Planescape Torment and Fallout 2 developer Black Isle Studios, starts its creative process by first establishing the narrative parameters in which the game universe takes place. These parameters, he said, exist inside certain "boxes."

 

For instance, in the Fallout box can be found first and foremost the postapocalyptic setting. Avellone said that the universe is much more than that, though, as it is also about capturing the ambiance of the 1950s Cold War era, and how people from that time period thought the future would be. The box also contains the precepts of character creation, choices and the consequences thereof, questing, creative thinking, dark humor, perks, and, of course, radioactivity.

 

With Fallout: New Vegas, Bethesda also wanted the Obsidian team to incorporate many of the elements found in Fallout 3. These included having a signature city--in this case, Las Vegas--exploration, and a scope comparable to Fallout 3.

 

Finally, Avellone said that the Obsidian box includes more requirements that make a game distinctive to the studio. These include having game mechanics intertwine with the storyline (such as reputation impacting quest options), complex non-player characters who provide perspective on the world, and a fully featured level editor to give the mod community ways to continue creating content.

 

Gonzalez then took over the conversation, explaining just how he applied these concepts to crafting the narrative in Fallout: New Vegas. He said he began by first replaying all of the old Fallout games, in an effort to soak up the ambiance and style of the franchise. He then did a lot of research into mid-20th century Las Vegas, reading such books as Las Vegas: An Unconventional History and watching movies like the original Ocean's 11.

 

As for key inspirations, he started with the city's tagline ("What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"), and then incorporated other such elements as Vegas Vic (the iconic 40-foot neon cowboy), mobster Bugsy Siegel, The Rat Pack, and Howard Hughes.

 

And then it was simply a matter of writing, Gonzalez said. The first draft of the story document was written over the course of a week at a since-closed coffee shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, called the Espresso Royale. However, it took substantial rewrites and revisions to get it to production stage, gathering input from other Obsidian developers along the way...

 

Quote: "Sit the f*** down and write."--John Gonzalez, on the brass tacks behind crafting the narrative for a game.

 

Takeaway: Obsidian doesn't abide by the adage of thinking outside the box. Instead, the box mentality helps keep the studio focused on the core concepts of what they want to accomplish with the game they are working on.

Edited by funcroc
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Wombat

Wombat

Posted
Posted

Not news, I guess...

 

As for the presentations, I wonder why they use a term "box" instead of factor/element although such kind of concept had been existed back in days of Planescape: Torment. About the NV lead creative, John Gonzalez, I don't know his works and its one of the factors I feel unsure about what to expect from his writings.

 

Now the Brotherhood of Steel...well...we were able to guess that much by ourselves when we heard they are in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Irrelevant

Irrelevant

Posted
Posted (edited)
Hopefully the changes to combat in New Vegas will make aiming for the limbs more effective but I'll be honest... I doubt it.

There is a good chance of limb shots being usefull; Since there are two military sides fighting in a less damaged area, chances are that they will wear some sort of head armor; Most soldiers tend to only wear a helmet and body armor, allowing for the choice of quickly disabling your enemy or slowly killing them.

On a related note, modifying VATS in a way that doesn't make it extremely powerfull will probably result in poor reviews because it looks like we are the only ones that take issue with it; Unless Obsidian

 

-Makes the default difficulty easy enough to allow VATS to be god mode. (I'm still surprised that VATS=90% damage resistance)

 

-Makes VATS a true alternative to real-time combat

Unless things like moving, switching weapons and looking at my inventory use AP I won't be using VATS.

Edited by Irrelevant

It's not Christmas anymore but I've fallen in love with these two songs:

 

http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=HXjk3P5LjxY

http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=NJJ18aB2Ggk

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Irrelevant

Irrelevant

Posted
Posted
Not sure how that could translate into a non-turn based game.
Theoretically, it can be translated into shooters as long as they have system which track hits on each body part but making various animations must be demanding...

Most recent shooters have this but firefights do not last enough for it to matter.

Yeah, I'd forgotten about that, that did make groin shots useful.

 

Not sure how that could translate into a non-turn based game.

 

In Metal Gear a groin shot equals a one hit kill, it is still easier to always aim for the head since because it is always available.

The only games I've ever played in which aiming for the limbs is viable is Mechwarrior, the health of most enemies is pretty high and the body has much more health than the limbs.

It's not Christmas anymore but I've fallen in love with these two songs:

 

http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=HXjk3P5LjxY

http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=NJJ18aB2Ggk

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gorth

Gorth

Posted
Posted
The only games I've ever played in which aiming for the limbs is viable is Mechwarrior, the health of most enemies is pretty high and the body has much more health than the limbs.

Try Dead Space. You'll never look at limbs the same way again ;)

 

 

*Sigh*

 

Objects may appear closer on the internet than they really are ;)

“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tale

Tale

Posted
Posted

I was probably going to pass on New Vegas due to general Fallout 3 related disinterest. But Alpha Protocol changed my mind. Is it October yet?

"Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater."
Link to comment
Share on other sites
WorstUsernameEver

WorstUsernameEver

Posted
Posted

While you're perfectly entitled to question their fashion sense, they didn't look emo in the strict sense to me. :(

 

But we're digressing, so to bring this derailed topic back to its pure, original purpose, here I bring you a new interview with

.

 

 

Interviewer is annoying, so you'll probably find yourself staring at the blurry screens in the background instead of listening to what he asks.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...