Todd Howard in PC Gamer
Todd Howard in PC Gamer
Interview - posted by Exitium on Sat 18 September 2004, 02:03:46
Tags: Bethesda Softworks; Fallout 3The November issue of PC Gamer has a small interview with Todd Howard of Bethesda/Fallout 3 infamy that raises some hopes as to the direction of the game. Special thanks to a regular at Duck and Cover by the name of brillo for typing out the following interview:
While Bethesda is still evaluating different designs and features, Fallout 3 will undoubtedly introduce some changes to the series. Executive Producer Todd Howard wouldn’t confirm whether the franchise’s traditional isometric view and turn-based combat will be abandoned, but he did point out that the strategy spin-off Fallout Tactics retained those elements and still didn’t resonate with series fans. In Howard’s view: “There was so much more to Fallout than the angle you viewed it at, or how combat was resolved. You need to look at what Fallout did for RPG’s when it came out in 1997, and create a game that has the same effect for the next generation.â€
Howard thinks the vital, mandatory elements that define Fallout games are “the overall tone and character choices. You could play Fallout in many different ways with different results. And the first game did a brilliant job of putting you in a harsh, unknown wasteland that was full of people who [hoped] humanity would survive. At it’s core, it’s a survival game.†That’s already a fitting characterization for Fallout 3 given that it’s survived considerable adversity and now the follow-up’s back in experienced RPG-making hands.
It's good to hear that Bethesda has got the right priorities in order by placing a strong focus on the game's role-playing aspects, and it should be highlighted that this interview is definitely a lot clearer than the "gritty drug-and-prostitute-speckled" one at Computer Games. I also like what he said about Fallout Tactics, which is definitely the main complaint most of us had during that game's development.
Like Mr. Teatime, who kindly pointed out this article to me, I also share his opinion that I don't read the article as saying "there will be no turn based combat or isometric viewpoint", and I also agree that the combination of the turn-based combat and isometric viewpoint (at least in combat) are almost as much important as the game's strong role-playing aspects, setting and characterization to Fallout as a whole.
While Bethesda is still evaluating different designs and features, Fallout 3 will undoubtedly introduce some changes to the series. Executive Producer Todd Howard wouldn’t confirm whether the franchise’s traditional isometric view and turn-based combat will be abandoned, but he did point out that the strategy spin-off Fallout Tactics retained those elements and still didn’t resonate with series fans. In Howard’s view: “There was so much more to Fallout than the angle you viewed it at, or how combat was resolved. You need to look at what Fallout did for RPG’s when it came out in 1997, and create a game that has the same effect for the next generation.â€
Howard thinks the vital, mandatory elements that define Fallout games are “the overall tone and character choices. You could play Fallout in many different ways with different results. And the first game did a brilliant job of putting you in a harsh, unknown wasteland that was full of people who [hoped] humanity would survive. At it’s core, it’s a survival game.†That’s already a fitting characterization for Fallout 3 given that it’s survived considerable adversity and now the follow-up’s back in experienced RPG-making hands.
It's good to hear that Bethesda has got the right priorities in order by placing a strong focus on the game's role-playing aspects, and it should be highlighted that this interview is definitely a lot clearer than the "gritty drug-and-prostitute-speckled" one at Computer Games. I also like what he said about Fallout Tactics, which is definitely the main complaint most of us had during that game's development.
Like Mr. Teatime, who kindly pointed out this article to me, I also share his opinion that I don't read the article as saying "there will be no turn based combat or isometric viewpoint", and I also agree that the combination of the turn-based combat and isometric viewpoint (at least in combat) are almost as much important as the game's strong role-playing aspects, setting and characterization to Fallout as a whole.
