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Development Info Fallout 3 may have God-awful music and combat

DarkUnderlord

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Tags: Fallout 3

Briosofreak and his Fallout 3 blog (Briosafreak has a blog, who knew?) <a href="http://fallout3.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/canard-pc-eight-pages-preview-and-follow-up/">are reporting about</a> some <a href="http://www.canardplus.com/">French gaming website's review</a>. I can't read French so here's what Brios has to say:
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<blockquote><ul><li>Teen age gives you access to a few quests which will have an impact on how you are perceived within the Vault</li>
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<li>While travelling across the Wasteland, you can come across a few caravans, each heading to precise locations.</li>
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<li>There are three difficulty levels, as well as an "autolevelling difficulty" mode.</li>
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<li>A few new weapons : Cryolator allows you to freeze ennemies while you can hypnotize them with your Mesmetron.</li>
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<li>Also a new perk, Daddy's Little Girl, which gives a Science bonus to female characters.</li></ul>
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Later the author of the article <a href="http://forum.canardplus.com/showthread.php?p=1027685#post1027685">went to the Canardplus forum and added his impressions</a> about the music on the Fallout 3 demo, saying it's "a f#&#=*&% catastrophe", with all the "Call of Duty and Wagner" style music replacing Mark Morgan's atmospheric tracks. He also says he is going to "piss on the composers mouth" after hearing that nonsense. Ouch.</blockquote>
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Auto-levelling, hypnotic weapons and being "Daddy's Little Girl" sure sounds like fun! I'm sure we'll all just have to wait and play the game to see for ourselves though.
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Be sure to <a href="http://fallout3.wordpress.com/">check out Briosafreak's Fallout 3 blog</a>.
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<b>UPDATE:</b> Seboss <a href="http://rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=517846#517846">has translated some more sections of the French review</a> for us. Seems the reviewer likes the start of the game but may not like the combat so much. Here's a bit of what Seboss has translated:
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<blockquote>While I was expecting an outright treason of the Fallout setting, more because of ineptitude than vice, I have the feeling the game is spot on. The ambiance, scenery and lighting of the Vault seem perfectly faithful to the series, with just the right dose of rust to enhance claustrophobia.
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...
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You'll go then from a little flirt with a girl your age through the confrontation with a little bully desiring to strip you from your birthday cake, to a surrealist discussion with a schizophrenic Mr Handy. And there, I feel reassured. The dialogs and the argument with the dumbfuck in the making come right into the series spirit. During your conversation with the little scum, the game offers you ten different dialog options: immediate cowardly capitulation, insult leading to a brawl, lies, [...] spitting on the cake before offering it to him. The list is more than satisfying.
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...
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Now here's the point where things get messy. We're going to get onto the thorny problem of the combat. [...] We'll note that the developers repeated ad nauseam that the efficiency of your shots depend on your statistics and that the FPS skills of the player don't have any importance, and that all shots fired in real-time mode will be automatically aimed to the torso. [Here goes a lengthy description of the VATS system]
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The idea seems to stand theoretically, but in facts I'm far from convinced. Firstly, during the presentation, either he was wearing a Power Armor and holding a Gatling gun and fighting hordes of super mutants armed with heavy machine guns, bakookas and supersledges or fighting ghouls with a 9mm and wearing just a leather armor, the demonstrator was just standing there, shooting long bursts without using any kind of tactics.
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Besides, aimed shots, possible even with a minigun, looked far less effective to me than just "run right next to the baddy and empty my magazine in one burst".</blockquote>
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So there's an upside that maybe Bethesda have finally figured out what dialogue options are however, "'bullet time' death animations are just as pleasant as stuffing rusty nails in your urethra after the third one." and "Another expected shortcoming is the animation quality. The author confirms that they are as stiff and unnatural as ever." Oh and you'll be fighting Orcs rather than actual Super Mutants.
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Bethesda... They've come so far, yet have so far left to go. <a href="http://rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=517846#517846">Read more of the translation here</a>. Thanks <b>Seboss</b>!
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Spotted @ <a href="http://www.duckandcover.cx">Duck and Cover</a>
 

MisterStone

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Re: Fallout 3 may have God-awful music

DarkUnderlord said:
Briosofreak and his Fallout 3 blog (Briosafreak has a blog, who knew?) <a href="http://fallout3.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/canard-pc-eight-pages-preview-and-follow-up/">are reporting about</a> some <a href="http://www.canardplus.com/">French gaming website's review</a>. I can't read French so here's what Brios has to say:
<blockquote><ul><li>Teen age gives you access to a few quests which will have an impact on how you are perceived within the Vault</li>

So they're ripping off Fable now?

<li>While travelling across the Wasteland, you can come across a few caravans, each heading to precise locations.</li>

OK, This sounds cool. Until you realize that the "fixed points" take about an hour or so to walk to, RL time.

<li>There are three difficulty levels, as well as an "autolevelling difficulty" mode.</li>

Oh for fucks sake...

<li>A few new weapons : Cryolator allows you to freeze ennemies while you can hypnotize them with your Mesmetron.</li>

Why couldn't they have bought the Duke Nukem franchise or something, if this is the kind of stupid shit they want to put in the game?

<li>Also a new perk, Daddy's Little Girl, which gives a Science bonus to female characters.</li></ul>

Lol sexist.
 

Fat Dragon

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So how many shitty weapons does this make now?

Let's see, there's the Fatman, Rock-It Launcher, the flaming sword, Mesmetron, Cryolater, some sort of lunchbox grenade...
Did I miss anything?

Also, was there any reason Bethesda didn't hire Morgan for the soundtrack? Hell, he's already admitted that he'd have liked to have done it in this interview:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=257552
 

NiM82

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Weps sound gay, music sounds gayer and the fact I find myself applauding a frenchman is downright disturbing.

The Daddy's Little Girl perk should really gift the player a child follower with an uncanny family resemblance. I'm surprised the creative geniuses there haven't spotted the chance to get some cheap black lulz out of that.
 

WalterKinde

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Shannow said:
Autolevelling = level-scaling or automatic distribution of skill-point after level up?

Does it really matter which it is at this point in time?

Everytime you think there can't be another macabre surprise pulled out of Bethesda's Magic Bag they just keep throwing them out.
Its a real shame this game is going to be a mega hit spawning sequels and DLC content.
 

Jasede

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
I can't believe this is the same Jeremy Soule who made the Total Annihilation soundtrack [sample: a b c]. Or fuck, even the Morrowind main theme. But in those two cases "epic" was actually justified. But he kinda never evolved. Just made the same stuff again and again, but worse each time.

edit: It isn't JS? Well. If this was any other game I'd be relieved.
edit 2: You guys are right; NMA from one year ago cites "Mr. Soule has not done and has no current plans to write music for Fallout 3."
 

VonVentrue

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Re: Fallout 3 may have God-awful music

*Claps* They're "huge Fallout fans", without any doubt... What defines a true fan? The fact he turns down a BI employee's offer of help and does not have the slightest idea who Mark Morgan is.
 

NiM82

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Erm I don't think it is JS is it? I thought I read he wasn't working with them on FO3.

IMDB doesn't have him down for FO3 either.
 

Gnidrologist

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What's so special about Total Annihilation score? I listened to it recently and it's usual pompous orchestral stuff.
 

Jasede

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
It actually suits the game, for one.
And to understand why it's good you kinda have to listen to the Supreme Commander soundtrack and realize how much worse it is.

Focus: FO 3 sucks/will suck.
 

hiver

Guest
Re: Fallout 3 may have God-awful music

DarkUnderlord said:
<blockquote><ul><li>Teen age gives you access to a few quests which will have an impact on how you are perceived within the Vault</li>
I guess we have a choice of being 19 or teenage... amazing.

DarkUnderlord said:
<li>While travelling across the Wasteland, you can come across a few caravans, each heading to precise locations.</li>
Amazing.

DarkUnderlord said:
<li>There are three difficulty levels, as well as an "autolevelling difficulty" mode.</li>
So?

DarkUnderlord said:
<li>A few new weapons : Cryolator allows you to freeze ennemies while you can hypnotize them with your Mesmetron.</li>
A What?

DarkUnderlord said:
<li>Also a new perk, Daddy's Little Girl, which gives a Science bonus to female characters.</li></ul>
A WHAT?
 

Section8

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What gets me is that in the sci-fi setting they're so keen to fuck with, they have weapons that actually use physics, a freeze ray, and a persuadotron, and yet they can't manage them for their fucking fantasy setting, where you don't even have to explain such phenomena.

Also, I don't think they've entirely thought these things through within then context of the setting. What happens if you hit something (ie, a Ghoul or Subpar Mutant) in the arm, leg, head, weapon with a freeze ray? Is that a better or worse result than a torso shot? What about the persuadotron? If you have such a thing, why bother with dialogue as a skill, right?

Oh and the weapon everyone is forgetting about is the "Suck-o-Tron", AKA the Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulator. I'm glad Bethesda still consider themselves to be the vanguard of whatever backwards-ass game design school of thought that still parrots Duke Nukem 3D, Syndicate and Half-Life 2.
 

Kingston

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I lack the wit to put something hilarious here
They seriously want everything from Oblivion into Fallout. You thought they couldn't get the spells in? YOU WERE WRONG.

The Mesmetron is the least retarded of the two. To me, it could be Fallout, as long as its all swirly and shit. The cryolator on the other hand is an abomination. Fallout is a post-nuke wasteland. A gun that turns things into ice just doesn't fit there. Does every gun have to have such an obvious names? Fallout had "Manufacturer Gun name Mark" for a lot of guns. All these weapons sound like one-off, completely unique stuff.
 

Jasede

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
But it's sign of the typical Fallout humour, Kingston. They're capturing the whole essence of Fallout.
 

Brother None

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Fat Dragon said:
Also, was there any reason Bethesda didn't hire Morgan for the soundtrack? Hell, he's already admitted that he'd have liked to have done it in this interview:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=257552

I don't know about that...

I do know the composer they have has more name recognition than Mark.

And I actually like the Mesmetron and Cryolater, depending on how they're applied. They were actually first mentioned in the NMA preview months ago, but I guess everyone missed 'em then :P
 

Fat Dragon

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Brother None said:
Fat Dragon said:
Also, was there any reason Bethesda didn't hire Morgan for the soundtrack? Hell, he's already admitted that he'd have liked to have done it in this interview:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=257552

I don't know about that...

I do know the composer they have has more name recognition than Mark.
You was at that Fallout 3 preview a while back, weren't you? How were the game soundtracks featured in the demo? Any good?
 

Brother None

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Fat Dragon said:
You was at that Fallout 3 preview a while back, weren't you? How were the game soundtracks featured in the demo? Any good?

Preview
The music falls right into this halfway-there category. Including actual 50s songs is a fun idea and will probably work fine, but the main soundtrack itself, while being very soft, was easily identified as "not like the originals." It reminded me most of Inon Zur's Fallout Tactics soundtrack, halfway between Fallout's ambient music and Zur's own tendency towards the bombastic.

Can't say it really bugged me. It was turned down for most of the demo, maybe it was more prominent in this demo.
 

Gragt

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Just for the record, Canard PC is one of the last French paper magazines about video games and while they tend to be very cynical and aggressive (the "pissing in the composer's mouth" is one of the many commons expressions they use, they certainly did not use that for Fallout 3's music) they still suck big developper's cocks like the others.

Seems they mostly complain about the music than the rest of the game.
 

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