Interview FO3: John Deiley talks to GameBanshee

[undead dolphin hacker]

Oh fuck, I just thought of a storyline.

What If the players get to play and participate in the world before the bombs drop. They do usual rpg shit with the vault whatever...etc.. and then when the bomb drops you get to experiance which vault lives and dies etc.

And after a stroytelling sequence, you could chose to be any vault survivor, or continue with the person before the bombs droped.

Considering you'd have a 1:1,000,000 or less chance of surviving "before the bombs drop," I think it'd still come down to hokiness in the end.

 

[Excalibur]

Actually, at the least i wouldnt care if fallout 3 used the same engine heavily modified from 1998, but with higer resolution, like when i saw a few screenshots that looked good from years back, ah well. I just want a new "fallouty" experiance, to take me away from this shithole reality

 

[undead dolphin hacker]

Out of all BIS games PS:T did the best job in aligment.

Eh... as good as the relatively rigid D&D Alignment system can be. I always liked Fallout's by-town reputation and, the greatest alignment story ever told, the Karma-meter.

 

[undead dolphin hacker]

The logical progression is for Fallout 3 to start with the PC as the chosen member of GECKoVille, who has to brave the wastes to reclaim the mysterious and tantamount to magical "War Rant Tea" which will fix all the problems with the failing community, but first they have to enter the dreaded Tutorial Caves of Ultimate Contrivance, and face the lurking horrors within...

Hehehe. Too true. Don't forget that you'll need to thwart Abraham Lincoln's offshore oil rig--not wait, this is the third game, so the base needs to be even further--make that, Abe's arctic Castle of Ice-centered eugenic plot.

And why Abraham Lincoln? He fits the bill perfectly:

1.) He's charismatic and intelligent like the Master.
2.) He has marfan's, which is equitable to the Master's... FEV problem.
3.) He's was once the president, like the random villan in FO2.
4.) (And now the new add-on to the proud Fallout line...) HE'D BE UNDEAD!

 

[undead dolphin hacker]

OK, last in my chain of posts for a little while, I swear.

Here's how I would see FO3 starting:

-There are, say, ten ways to start out in Fallout 3--sorta like ToEE's opening vignettes. Which beginning you got depends on which skills you tagged--someone who tagged Merchant, Doctor and Speech, for example, would start in a Shady-Sands-like medium-size, friendlyish community. Someone with Heavy Weapons, Repair, and Energy Weapons would start as the community's guard-in-training, or perhaps as a member of a splinter of the Brotherhood of Steel whose patrol was attacked and routed, while you either ran for your life or were left for dead. In any case, you're not Joe Nobody like in Fallout... but you're not Christ the risen either. Depending on your opening, you could be anything from a common thief, (or "Locksmith" for those who wanted to play good), all the way up to a scout for the Brotherhood of Steel.

-There are three to five main threads to follow--but no character ever tells you to follow them. No "go get the damn water chip" here. I see this happening in different ways for each opening--if you're the city-slicker Merchant/Doctor guy, perhaps a bizarre weapon you've never seen before crosses your table, or a patient you're treating dies mysteriously one night, or flat-out disappears. In the BoS case, maybe you want to follow the tracks of those who attacked your patrol, or maybe you want to scuttle off and report to HQ (though they might not like the fact you ran from battle?) As a thief, perhaps you come across some obviously non-fictional correspondence instead of the big pull you were looking for which points to a threat to both your life and the lives of those you steal from. Or you could say "fuck it" (or plain don't pick up on the clue and follow it) and go wandering in the desert, doing side-quests and solving (or causing) problems--however, the more you grow and learn about the world, the more you are gently nudged into the "main storyline" replete with factions and hoopla.

-Timed events are a freaking must... and I'm not talking a lame "everyone dies if you don't get the water chip!" scenario. I'm talking, if you discover something you'd like to change, there are only a few windows of opportunity to change it easily--outside of these critical spans of time, it's damn hard to stop (or perhaps start) what is set in motion. This is what I call "event inertia."

Example: The Cathedral from Fallout. It's got a nuke in it, super. And you can blow it up if you want to, great. Getting to it challenges your character, however, and setting it off without killing yourself is a challenge too. Fair enough.

Imagine how rich the scene would be with event inertia, though. Say you learn that the mutants are shipping one of the weapons that made the world like it is now to the Cathedral. Say you hate the mutants and the Cathedral, and wouldn't mind detonating it inside. The Cathedral has obviously put a ton of manpower and resources into moving the weapon, ie, an NPC faction has provided the energy of activation, so to speak, to get the bomb rolling.

Here's where you come in. You're only one man (or woman.) Now that the sucker's moving, it'll be MUCH easier for you to move it off course. You could get on the team shipping the bomb, or perhaps work as a mercenary guarding its transport, or perhaps join the Cathedral in advance and slip in with the bomb when it comes in. But if it gets in, and gets set up, or whatnot, your only option to get to it, if you know about it, is to fight your way in, or sneak, or somesuch... and it will be MUCH more difficult than getting to the bomb during all the confusion of it coming in.

OK my brain is tired now. Maybe more later?

 

[Ausir]

From NMA forum:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The plot for Fallout 3 was nothing like Torment or Lionheart. I can how you would make that connection from what I wrote, but that's not the case.

I can't really go into details because I want the "mystery" of the game to still be there in case Interplay does produce the game using our story at some point.

I hope you understand.
_________________
John W. Deiley
Designer, formerly of Black Isle Studios

 

[Human Shield]

No one brought this up but....

Why use a prison?

Wasn't this subposed to be farther out into the wasteland? Why is there a law enforcement agency?

Wouldn't slavers knocking you out and transporting you make more sense? Then have options of trying to escape, being sold to someone (using stats to try and effect placement), killing your new owners or doing their work, etc...

Then have the first main goal to kill the slavers for revenge (have a mobile group to add a challenge over a set timelimit), then take over the job or set everyone free, etc...

Then find a note send to slaver leader taking about a large demand for living bodies and a drop off location -> leads to enemy base used for research or whatever. Or ignore the slavers and find rumours on your own.

New DNA Goddess sounds like "Bride of the Master".

 

[Excalibur]

Were thinking into this to much, as far as im conernd fallout 3 is not dead, , if it was resurected, the engine was almost done, and other things are complete enough for the designers to get a start on finsihing the product thats new to them, so therefore if they sell it or contract it out whatvever, im thinking it would be finished as it was ment to be by the other designers.

And the title will be sold regradsless if interplay goes down in flames being raped by sharholders, or if they somehow survive the shit hole their in right now.

They are keeping their options open and being fukcing dicks about, thats why no annocment etc etc.

Layoffs are a part of any restructring, although we may not agree, hopfully, in the end we will get are game after all... oh well

 

[Spazmo]

*nonsense*

The award for naivete and ridiculous optimism in the face of overwhelming evidence against goes to you, chum.

 

[LCJr.]

Here's a (not) very original plot idea.

The game is set at the exact same time and place as FO1 except your a mutant under the Master. As they say the victors write history so instead of the Vaultdwellers version you get the mutants side of the story. Cast the Vaultdweller as either a racist or an unwitting tool of the BOS. Mutants aren't sterile. Vree lied about her research(or was ordered too) for propoganda purposes to make the mutants look thoroughly evil. If they can't breed then they can only destroy civiliaztion not build a new one, right?

 

[undead dolphin hacker]

Here's a (not) very original plot idea.

The game is set at the exact same time and place as FO1 except your a mutant under the Master. As they say the victors write history so instead of the Vaultdwellers version you get the mutants side of the story. Cast the Vaultdweller as either a racist or an unwitting tool of the BOS. Mutants aren't sterile. Vree lied about her research(or was ordered too) for propoganda purposes to make the mutants look thoroughly evil. If they can't breed then they can only destroy civiliaztion not build a new one, right?

No offense, but that sounds like a sad fanfic.

 

[axel]

Quit suggestioning plots please.

Your ideas fucking suck and they make me want to stab in you in the face with a rusty spork.

 

[Greenskin13]

Plots that don't inlove ninjas, presidents, and bad dudes immedietly suck.

Also, I've always wondered if Tim Cain ever reads these plot ideas, realize they're very close to his, and then becomes sad when the fans trash it. Yeah, probably not, but it sounds like a joke idea for the Simpsons or something.

 

[Anonymous]

Volourn just cant handle RPGs where they dont hold your goddamn hand.

ToEE's openers were nice because they gave you a direction, but you didnt have to follow them, NPCs could still point you on, it was up to you how you wanted to play. You could zealously follow your quest, or just stick it on the back burner as you go adventuring/questing.

I really liked the Lawful Good opener, as it made alot of sense. You guys are fighting off some brigands who attacked some caravans and after you kill them the old dude says the other brigands took the children and women and all the shipments, and that you should go to Hommlet and tell the Wheel and Wainright what happened to his shipment.

Go there and he says his wife was returning on the caravan, and points you to the Moathouse, since you offer to help find her, as there were alot of brigands there.

Go there, Lareth says 'Muahaha, Temple of Elementail Evil lives!', and you go 'Oh snap! No you didnt!' and stab him in the brain.

Go back and tell the Wheel-guy about what happened and he says theres alot of bad folks in Nulb, so ask around there. You go asking around and someone tells you some bad shits going on in the Temple, and as Lareth said before, it's active.

You go there and kick some ass and find the dude's wife (who was pretty cleverly hidden).

 

[Spazmo]

The LG one isn't bad as it provides motivation roughly throughout the game (right up until you actually find Paida--and after that, hell, you've busted up three or four levels already, why not go for the whole enchilada?). But others, like the neutral good one, are really contrived and end in a flash.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

John: The game would begin with the player in a prison cell. Because of this the player was given a choice. He could be an innocent that was imprisoned because of some misunderstanding, or he could choose to be a criminal and take bonus traits that would bolster some of his skills.

As opposed to, say, starting in a Vault and choosing to be a criminal (++combat stats), thrown out of the vault for violent behaviour and told to never come back, or say a technician with a bonus to repair and science skills who's left the Vault to find a mystary widget (++tech skills) or a diplomatic character or a doctor etc...

The player would awaken in a prison cell, but not the one he remembered falling asleep in. Suddenly the floor rocks violently from an explosion and the player is knocked unconscious. When he awakens he finds his cell door open and a hole in the wall leading outside. Leaving the prison, he is under attack by some unknown assailant. Deciding that discretion is the better part of valor, the player flees into the night to explore his new world.

Okay, so I'm a tough bad-ass criminal dude, I get out of jail through a convenient hole in the wall and some guys attacking me, and I run? Why not beat the shit out of the fucker? Also, if I'm such a bad important dude who's been moved and is nasty enough to send REALLY EXPENSIVE ROBOTS after me, why the HELL is there not a larger guard around the prison? What, everyone died in the attack and left me there? Why do I get the feeling the attack was launched to free me, yet the guys who launched it, after blowing the jail apart, can't seem to manage helping me out through the hole?

It's the ol', "hole in the wall and no-one's around to stop you", trick.

Unfortunately, his new found freedom may be short lived. The player is relentlessly pursued by robots who want to return him to the prison. As he explores the world and tries to outwit his pursuers, he begins to uncover an underlying plot. Why was he in a different prison than the one he fell asleep in? Why can't he remember being transferred? What was the attack on the prison about in the first place?

How about: Why would the prisoner care? He's escaped, I'm sure he's got some reason for why he was in jail in the first place that he actually *remembers*. Why bother finding these big bad people? Hell, I bet when the evil robots of doom bump into you in a random encounter, you can wipe the floor with them easy enough. Real nasty robots I bet!

The game offered a myriad of new places to discover and explore. It spanned a good portion of Utah, Colorado, and the surrounding areas. The player could repair railways and locomotives for fast travel to distant locales with train stations. Or, he could find and repair several vehicles that allowed access to areas outside the railways. Or... the player could hoof it.

This is like the sole car in FO2. Here's a world where distances are great, travel is hard and tough, a world where a car that can move at the speed of light and runs on effecient readily available energy would be worth MILLIONS, and you buy it from a guy for a buck fifty-five? Never mind the fact that it defeats the purpose of the war. War = rations of resources = people having little fuel for car due to war effort (a war which was all about scarce resources by the way) and here's this car running on energy that's easily found at your local weapons merchant. I'm sorry, why did America annex Canada again?

There were old friends and new enemies in the game. The Brotherhood of Steel was back but fading from glory. The player could rebuild them or destroy them.

IN FUCKING UTAH / COLORADO AND SURROUNDING AREAS? Jesus, these mothers sure multiply and move, don't they? Hell, FO:BOS has them moving into Texas. With all this Brotherhood everywhere, I'm wondering how the HELL they got shit-canned by the time FO2 came around.

$10 said if the player destroyed them though, the BoS would somehow find a way to appear in FO4...

There was a group of fanatics who worshiped a mad goddess and her life/death religion. Mad the goddess may be, but the genetic knowledge she turned into a religion was helping the wasteland. The player could take her down and free the people from her tyranny (and possibly weaken them in the long run) or let her religion prosper (and build a heartier stock of people that could better survive the rigors of the wasteland). These were just two of many factions in the game.

Meh.

There were recognizable places to visit like Denver, Boulder, Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, and many others. There were new places to discover like the Twin Mothers, the Nursery, New Canaan, and many more.

"In Fallout 3, we decided to replace scores of Monty Python references with lots of special places to visit. Hoover Dam!!"

There is so much more I could say about the game, but I'll save that for another time.

When Interplay dies?

----------

All that aside, I think you can point at a broad outline of any game and say "that's not original". Very few games truly are. I'm just disappointed that a whole lot of people seem to be forgetting the purpose behind Fallout in the first place. Resources got scarce and the whole world wanted what was left. To have plenty of things still with effecient energy and running perfectly AFTER THE WORLD GOT NUKED seems to defeat the purpose of there being a war at all.

Some people need to take a history lesson and look at the rationing and shortages that occured during World War II*.


*Yes I know that last link is to an article about WWI. So sue me.

 

[Rosh]

Fallout 3: Mormons of Steel

 

[Ausir]

The LE vignette (the one with Fragarach) is also good - gives you motivation until you find Thrommel.