Some dude named Briosafreak started a Fallout 3 blog. He interestingly quotes something we missed, from Critical Hits:

There are a bunch of comments on Kotaku about whether or not it will be first person, third person, and how well the game will play out and look. All I have to say is, don’t worry. I can’t say anything more then that, but really and truly trust me, don’t worry. If you must know more you’ll have to ask me personally, and even then probably with a few drinks in me for good measure.

Bartoneus works in the same building as BethSoft, and so has gotten some glimpses of Fallout 3 in progress, but had to sign an NDA to do so, so that was the best (legally) he could say. He hasn’t even told me, his web-boss, about it, so I’m as dying to know as you are!

Got this in the mail;

Aftermath (www.aftermathrpg.com), a new site for post apocalyptic gaming discussion has opened and will feature original articles from roleplaying game designers who have worked in this genre, including Owen K. C. Stephens, Eric Cagle, Tim Willard, and Darrin Drader. The site is now open and we're inviting you to come check it out.

A number of our readers might already have seen the first part of Matt Barton's history of cRPGs (Early years 1980-1983) (if not, read it now). The feature was purchased by Gamasutra, who has now put up the second part (Golden Age 1985-1993), where it becomes relevant for us as it hits Fallout's predecessor Wasteland:

Wasteland remains the favorite CRPG of many a gamer who played in back in the late 1980s, and for good reason--it's a captivating and highly innovative game that deserves its place beside (if not above!) Interplay's other CRPG classic, The Bard's Tale. It's more than a testament to the game's enduring legacy that the best-selling Fallout, released in 1997, is in many ways little more than a graphical revamp of the older engine. Wasteland is a classic game that remains highly playable and rewarding even today. I might note that Electronic Arts released an alleged sequel to the game called Fountain of Dreams in 1990, but none of Wasteland's developers were involved. The publisher made an uncharacteristic decision to downplay the "sequel" aspect as much as possible, and the game (which, by all accounts, is something of a lemon) made very little impression on the market.

Good news for all you fans who've got yourselves at least an associates degree in English or Literature studies...it seems Gluttoncreeper, the company that made the Fallout P&P D20 roleplaying guide are looking for one freelance editor to work on their "Tales from the Wastes" campaign and are also accepting outlines for additional stories. If your like most of the folks here at the forums then there are a particularly high percentage of you who are educated and I'm sure there are a significant portion who've taken studies in writing and this would be a grand opportunity to not only take a job, but add something to the fandom you so cherish. Here's the info;

News:

Feb 18,2007: We are taking applications for one freelanced editor for our OPS Fallout PNP: Tale from the Wastes Campaign that will launch this summer. You must have an associate degree in literature or english studies. This is a work-for-hire position, and pays a set fee that will be negotiated upon contract signing. Inquire at gluttoncreeper@gluttoncreeper.com

Additionally we are now taking outlines for Tales from the Wastes. Tales from the Waste is set 20 years after Fallout 1 end. If you have an ideal, send it to us, and if we accept it, you'll get paid for your adventure. Inquire also at gluttoncreeper@gluttoncreeper.com

Steve Meretzky, industry veteran best known for his work with Infocom, has taken note of the recent positive trend in board games and negative trend in computer games, and jotted down some interesting thoughts. This should all sound very, very familiar to glittering gem readers:

It's a great time to be a board gamer, and the horizons of the field seem to get broader by the day.

The horizons of computer gaming, on the other hand, seem to be in the midst of a long contraction. While in terms of technical wizardry and production values, electronic games continue to leap forward, in terms of theme and gameplay, the choices seems to get narrower and narrower. Warfare dominates, in various forms: historical battles, fighting in Tolkienesque worlds, mech-style combat in post-apocalyptic landscapes, even that stylized version of warfare known as football. How did this come to be?

The reasons are as familiar as the problems are intransigent. Exploding development costs force executives to make conservative rather than daring choices; sequels and imitative products are the result. Consolidation results in giant, bureaucratic publishing empires, where the executives making the decisions are far removed from the development trenches where creativity occurs. An immature game reviewing community is easily swayed by graphical sizzle even in the absence of gameplay steak. The retail channel is strangled by a few giant outlets with no patience for a game that doesn't immediately leap off the shelf. Market forces are stifling innovation.

(...)

But for big-budget games that sell through the retail channel, the present is grim and the future shows little sign of promise.

I'm not advocating that everyone in the electronic games business quit their jobs and start making board games. Instead, I'm hoping that we'll take a look at the variety of innocent delights that board games offer, and try to bring a little of that into our industry. For executives, when you're planning your product roadmap for next year, you can still throw $10 million at Squad of Heroes V, and $25 million at Trolls 'n' Treasures Online, but also toss in a million here or there for something more offbeat; just think, if that low-budget game turns into a hit, the ROI will be incredible!

Gamasutra had a talk with Todd Howard about Fallout 3. Snips:

Howard is unconcerned about this, however. “I wouldn't say doing Fallout has any more pressure then doing Elder Scrolls,” he says. “Most of the pressure comes from ourselves, trying to make a better game than our last.”

Vice president of PR and marketing Pete Hines recently told Gamasutra that the team was “a fairly good ways into the process”, and noted that “Fallout is not a quick two year process, and we are already several years into the project”.

Howard confirms this, stating that development on the game has “been full steam for a while now, and preproduction is coming to an end and we hope to show it off soon”.

(...)

I've also been listening to a lot of music for Fallout 3 - stuff from the '40s."

Twelve Motion's excellent Fallout comic, The Water Chip, is back with two new chapters, after stalling at Chapter 6 (Junktown) September last year.

Link: The Water Chip comic

Mismatch has published part 2 of his Defining (The) Fallout(s) editorial:

The Fallout setting is at first glance rather straightforward, and yet it is much more complex than one would think. One part fifties style retro, one part Max Max fashioned post apocalypse, and one part 50's science fiction.

From this mix, something arises. A world harsh and desolate, an "It's every man for himself" mentality only previously seen in old western flicks, and a boy and his dog. By mixing genres which at first glance may seem to clash, Interplay somehow managed to produce a world filled with uncertainty and fear. Even as you entered a town you were on your toes since some local gunslinger was probable to start a mess.

This insecurity somehow made security feel more secure. Regardless of how you felt about they treat mutants and ghouls at Vault City, I know that you, at some point, glanced at the grass and dreamt of just sitting down. You were more than willing to trade freedom for a sense of security and calm. No matter how short the moment was, I'm rather sure it was there.

(...)

The Fallout's story isn't merely a story of violence in a radiated wasteland. It is a story of belonging, of fear of the unknown and intolerance, of how isolation breeds suspicion and one mans quest to once and for all end these fears, end the suspicion, the hate and the intolerance(FO1) but in the end he manages to increase it and gives birth to an attempt to cleanse the world of anyone who is not genetically a human(FO2).

It is the story of Richard Grey.

And hopefully the developers of future Fallout games have understood this.

It is entirely possible that this is why FO has such a high degree of freedom, because the game is not about the player, so controlling him and pushing him in certain directions is not really needed.

After the recent retiring of the civil defense logo, the UN has decided to introduce a new supplementary radiation warning logo, which I can only describe as "radiation warning FOR DUMMIES":

With radiating waves, a skull and crossbones and a running person, a new ionizing radiation warning symbol is being introduced to supplement the traditional international symbol for radiation, the three cornered trefoil.

The new symbol is being launched today by the IAEA and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to help reduce needless deaths and serious injuries from accidental exposure to large radioactive sources. It will serve as a supplementary warning to the trefoil, which has no intuitive meaning and little recognition beyond those educated in its significance.

The FIFE monthly update:

Welcome to yet another FIFE news update, this time it's a rather important one. You've prolly already noticed that there was not much SVN activity after the last official release last month. Phoku is busy with his exams and jobs and won't have time for FIFE in the next couple of months. As everyone who's still left on the team seems to be incredibly busy too I want to send an SOS to all FIFE fans out there.

There were no major code additions to our Subversion repository since about one month. So if no wonder happens this phase of slowdown will probably last for several months. We know that nobody is eagerly awaiting to join a team that is in a massive slowdown but our aim was to be always honest about the status of the project. If you know any developer who could help out and would be interested to work on FIFE: don't hesitate to send us a message to our mailing list: fife-public@lists.sourceforge.net

We're in the desperate need of experienced C++ coders who are interested in working on the engine or the editor. If we won't be able to attract new contributors we'll make no big steps forward in the development for the next several months. There is a list with tasks to address for interested developers:
https://mirror1.cvsdude.com/trac/fife/engine/report/1

Furthermore you should read our getting started guide for developers to find out about the basics of FIFE:
http://wiki.fifengine.de/index.php?title=Getting_started

Last but not least there are also some small signs of hope for the FIFE team. We got two new interested developers on team: labrat and shales. Labrat currently works on a general solver interface and wants to integrate the Micropather pathfinding library into FIFE:
http://www.grinninglizard.com/MicroPather/

Shales works on color-keying for the SDL renderer to speed up the transparency effects with software rendering. But both new developers are rather busy with their real life so their enlistment alone won't help to boost our progress significantly. We hope that someone hears this call for help

Last but not least we're planning to restructure our wiki. mvBarracuda already started to overwork the wiki frontpage and planned more important changes for the next weeks. We would like to get some feedback from the community how they like the new wiki structure and what could be improved:
http://wiki.fifengine.de

See you at the next development update and I hope we can bring you better news next time.

In an interview with Todd Howard and Pete Hines on Game Informer, GI manages to slip in a few questions about Fallout 3 and gets the expected answers:

GI: When do you think we’ll hear more about Fallout.

Howard: You’ll probably hear about it sooner than the last time you heard about it. (Laughs) This year. You’ll hear about it this year.

GI: Are you thinking E3?

Howard: We don’t know yet. It’s getting close. We always feel uncomfortable talking about stuff. Fortunately or unfortunately, that’s a project that people know about and really want to hear about. We feel bad that we give these fluffy, nonspecific answers, but that’s how we like to do it. We don’t like to talk about the game without showing it. It becomes almost worthless, because people have to conjure it up in their heads.

GI: So it’s like too much of a tease?

Howard: Not even a tease. Even if I were to describe it to you, it’s better to go, “Bang. Here it is.” And that’s how we like to approach it, and that’s how we’ll do it, and it’ll be sometime this year. Right, Pete?

Pete Hines: The only difference between Fallout and Oblivion is we owned the IP with Oblivion already, so we didn’t have to announce that we acquired this IP and we were working on it. Whereas with Fallout, that got announced before anything had really started. It’s almost the exact same amount of time between when we started it and when we’re going to end up unveiling, but the difference is nobody knew, “Hey, Bethesda is going to start working on Oblivion today.”

Howard: Also, I think that’s kind of a good thing. It’s kind of nice to have people know about what you’re working on and want to see it. That makes you want to work that much harder to make it good, so that’s good, as opposed to, “You didn’t even know.” But unfortunately, at this date, we can’t really say what it is or what it looks like or how it plays or any of that.

Spong did an interview with Bethesda PR guy Pete Hines. It's a bit hard to follow because Spong has a rather odd way of formulating questions, but here goes:

POnG: From that description, it strikes me that there's maybe similarities with what Irrational are trying to do with Bioshock.

Pete Hines: Mmmmmm, not really… maybe a little, but only in as much as any role-playing game is going to be similar in certain ways to any other role-playing game. What you're going to see from us in Fallout 3 is going to be pretty different though.

SPOnG: In terms of resurrecting that late 1990s classic though?

Pete Hines: Yeah, but again, what Fallout 3 does in terms of theme and tone and setting is very different.

(...)


SPOnG: One of the things that crops up a lot in reviews and discussions of about Fallout is that a lot of the fans like the about Fallout humour. What does this mean to you?

Pete Hines: Well, Todd Howard (Executive Producer at Bethesda) has talked a little about this. We're not big fans of jokes… developers that try to tell jokes, it tends not to work very well. You know, the humour in Fallout 3 is that you can get a weapon and blow a guy to a bloody mess, then when you pull up your interface, you see a little smiling cartoon character holding his thumb up. Like that's funny… funny not in terms of jokes or winks at the camera and such…

SPOnG: So, more like Terminator style humour?

Pete Hines: Yeah, exactly, that sort of stuff. It's just on how you present the game and the content and the setting.

SPOnG: And the setting is East Coast USA right?

Pete Hines: I dunno if we've said, have we? There's a lot of rumour and speculation swirling about out there! [laughs]

SPOnG: Is it fair to say it will be released on PC, PS3 and 360?

Pete Hines: No, not fair to say. We haven't announced any platforms yet.

We're going a bit peripheral again, but this has a nice spot in the turn-based versus real-time debate, the battle between immersion and pen-and-paper-simulation. J.E. Sawyer, who rumours have it has been scared to walk down dark alleys since his time as the lead on Van Buren, had the following to say in his blog:

The fact that they are often referred to as "traditional" makes them seem like antiquated throwbacks. And though I was somewhat annoyed by an early review of Neverwinter Nights 2 that focused heavily on comparing its thick D&D mechanics to Oblivion's relatively straightforward, "player + character" systems, I can't say I was all that surprised by the outcry. I return to the idea that games like D&D, like GURPS, like Hârnmaster and Rolemaster, were born out of an apparent desire to simulate the entire world through dice, at a leisurely (if not glacial) pace. To a certain extent, they need to. Tabletop games will always be games of imaginary spaces. When someone wants to do something... anything... there needs to be some mechanical concept to cover the event or at least give direction to a GM who needs to wing it.

(...)

I would like to see viable "traditional" CRPGs and tactical combat games stay strong in 2007 and beyond, but I know that such superfans are truly in the minority these days. But as long as the player can still make meaningful choices with regards to their character and role in the story, I really can't find too many reasons to protest any given simulation mechanic as long as it is executed well.

RPGWatch's Corwin has done a feature entitled The Great Debate in which he attempts to answer the big one; "which is better - Turn Based (TB), or Real Time (RT) combat?":

Let me state my personal bias immediately, so there is no confusion. I much prefer TB to RT. For me, Fallout had the best RPG combat ever. However, in the interests of fairness and provoking animated discussion, I will attempt to present the strengths and weaknesses of each.

(...)

Should we be comparing table-top gaming to computer gaming, though? Is this really an apples and oranges comparison? If so, then none of the arguments for player skill vs avatar skill really apply. Does my avatar choose his spells, action, armour, etc? No, I do, using my intelligence, not his. With a TB combat system, I still make all the relevant decisions on strategy - not my character - so while I have taken out the twitch factor, I have emphasised the mental aspect of the player instead. So, does that simply mean that TB games cater more to the cerebral among us, while RT is more of a sop to the dextrous?

(...)

Turn Based, Real Time - which should it be? In the end it’s nothing more than a personal choice or preference. I don’t have fast reflexes and I enjoy thinking about what might be the best approach to a fight, so TB suits me best. Others prefer to simply jump in and blast away. Yes, I do enjoy some RT combat in certain games where it is appropriate, but I’d much rather be able to press a pause key and think about it. Unfortunately, I can’t see many true TB games being produced in the future, but there’s always Fallout 3, isn’t there?

In what I can only call another shameless attempt to get on the NMA frontpage, Ashley Cheng posted this on his blog with the comment "One of our QA guys, Fred Zeleny, made this Fallout valentine. It is too good not to share":

An anonymous informer let us know of an amazing Post-Apoc short film by Ruairi Robinson, The Silent City.

It's really worth checking out, a bit reminescent of the Gone With The Blast Wave webcomic.

Links: Youtube version, The author's website, where you can download a better quality version.

Ashley Cheng (BethSoft producer), who I think is making a run at getting the community manager job Bethesda opened, responded in his (personal!) blog to a thread on the QTT forums (that thread, in turn, was in response to glittering gems of hatred). Ashley Cheng, apparently, "gets it":

For me personally, 1997 right up until 2000 was a golden age for computer role playing games. Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Planescape Torment -- I played some of the best RPGs in my life during that period. In general, the aforementioned Fallout fans yearn for those RPGs. They may not want to play those exact games specifically, but it is safe to say that current RPGs on the market are definitely not to their liking (to say the least).

(...)

The general consensus of the thread was that these passionate fans are irrelevant, that they are too fanatical and small a blip on the market to really matter. Yet, I can't help but think of The Long Tail. Practically speaking, current major publishers and developers no longer make those types of games anymore, and retailers won't sell games that haven't come out in the past year or two. But you can still find them at places at www.gogamer.com or www.gametap.com. I would be curious if their sales of older titles is substantial enough to raise the eyebrows of major publishers and make a case for these niche titles.

(...)


Perhaps the RPGs of the late 90s will make their way back somehow -- those big, beautiful beasts of RPGs. Yet, I imagine, much like adventure games, when they do return, they won't be anything like they were back before iPods ruled the earth.

Luimu let us know of a site with some nice PA-themed art, complete with a creepy countdown to Armageddon.

Link: http://wasteland.null.fi/images.php

I've a PM from GM, who sent us a screenie and two short movies, which unfortunately seem to have been rendered on a sub-par machine... Nevertheless, he also linked to the project blog with some sweet concept art.

Project not dead. We working in small temp, but working!

This is a video from gameplay. Sorry - my computer is very...hm...poor - not have the power to make newest video - I send you old-version engine video. I hope that's intresting...

Not long after we reported this review, one of the project team members, Commando, arrived with good news for Fallout fans:

We have recently released a new beta version of the game - Fallout PPC v002beta.

New features:
- support of english language (all game dialogs are now translated, currently translation is not polished, you can use word editor to make it better).
- support of Windows Mobile 5.0 devices (may be some problems with 3-d graphic accelerator devices)
- 3 new quest lines
- game manual draft in english (please read it to know why you cant fight, trade or steal right now and more)
- minor engine changes and bug fixes.


System requirements

Minimal system requirements :
OS: PocketPC 2002, Windows Mobile 2003/SE, WM5*
Memory: 12 MB free space
Free disk space: 7,5 MB
Video: qVGA
CPU: 250-300 Mhz

Recommend system requirements:
OS: PocketPC 2002, Windows Mobile 2003/SE, WM5*
Memory: 19 MB free space
Free disk space: 7,5 MB
Video: qVGA
CPU: 400 Mhz

*May not work on devices with 3D accelerator


Mini-FAQ:
Q. When next beta version will be released?
A. Approximately summer 2007.

Q. How about a VGA-version?
A. Possible, but not before qVGA is ready.

Q. The game is not running!
A. Currently not 100% WM devices are supported: find a new device or wait for a new version.

Q. Why the game use so much memory?
A. Game architecture is not optimized. It will be fixed in v.003 beta.

Q. Won't you have copyright problems?
A. The distributed game engine will contain no copyright material, except our own, but it will be fully compatible with most desktop Fallout resources. Their usage will be up to the user.

Q. Where can I get more info about the project?
A. Soon a project website will come online, follow the news!


About project:
Fallout for Pocket PC (inner working title) is a freeware close-coded game engine for Windows Mobile 2002, 2003SE, 5.0 with open map and script editors, allowing anyone to create SPECIAL-based Fallout-like RPG for PDA (even a complete port of desktop F1&2).



"Fallout: Back to U.S.S.R." (working title) is a game project, based on the FPPC engine, telling us a story about what happened on the other side of the world on post-nuclear Russia territory. Without vaults mutation rates and peoples destiny is much more severe here. You will play one of the apocalypse survivor and find your role in the plot of an organisation calling themselves - neocommunists. Will you decide to stop the raising plague of a new society based on Lenin and Stalin testaments or join the ranks of those who is building a new "bright future" on the ashes of nuclear war? Destiny is yours, tovarish!"

After some delay, here is the (fairly short) third part of NMA's Glittering Gems of Hatred article. A few notes:

There's a text-info box in this part defining what the article means by "Fallout fans". This was written in response to just criticism that the article left this unnecessarily vague. It will be moved to part 1 (where it belongs) later on, but is added here now.

In response to the article, the word "manifesto" was dropped by both supporters and detractors. This is nonsense. It is not intended to be and obviously isn't a manifesto. The article serves two basic purposes: encouraging a wider audience to reconsider their opinion of the hardcore Fallout fans and urging Bethesda to foster a healthy, BIS-esque relationship with the fanbase.

Finally, I (the author, Kharn) would like to thank everyone for the interest, comments and criticism, but for the actual proof-reading would like to thank Briosafreak and per, Sander for suggestions, spelling notes and helping with the final design and, most of all, the article's chief editor, welsh, for spending hours meticulously picking out superfluous language, though I secretly suspect he spent half that time thinking up creative ways of calling my writing terrible.

Link: Glittering Gems of Hatred III on NMA

Bradylama has done a viral anti-marketing piece. It is provided in Text form here, ready for you to spread. Some snips:

What does this mean for the future of NMA and DAC? If the evidence from the blacklisting of RPGCodex and STG are anything to go by, there's a significant possibility that as the hype machine for Fallout 3 kicks into gear, Bethesda will attempt to use DAC and NMA in order to serve as marketing tools, as was the case with STG and STGU. Eventually, when Bethsoft finds that NMA and DAC won't tow the party line, they'll be blacklisted, and Bethesda may possibly even attempt to garner DAC's complacency with meaningless benefits and exclusive info.

The previous statement serves as a warning. If Bethesda does attempt to control NMA and DAC they are sure to be severely dissapointed.

(...)

All of these statements ignored the fact that what fans want isn't the feared "Oblivion with guns," a pen & paper game modeled after d20 instead of GURPS (the system Fallout was originally developed for), or an action spin-off instead of an honest-to-God Fallout sequel with similar gameplay mechanics. Considering Bethesda's attitudes towards NMA, DAC, the Codex, STG, and Elder Scrolls fans, it would appear that they too don't care what the fans want.

DaC's King of Creation got word that the much-discussed Official X-Box Magazine interview with Bethesda, to be featured in the upcoming issue, will contain nothing new. Pete Hines says:

Folks took an interview with that that we did with them about Elder Scrolls, which had one (or maybe two) Fallout 3 question in it, and sort of ran with it.

Our MO hasn't changed. We still aren't talking about the game and when we're ready, there won't be any question that the information is forthcoming.

Bytez dropped us a hint at the forum about a PocketGamer.org review of the beta version of Fallout: Back to U.S.S.R., a game which attempts to bring Fallout to PDAs.

Fallout has been a great hit on the desktop. On the Pocket PC, there are very few similar games. It's probably only Nuclear Time by Mallocware that is similar (and, to some degree, Pyromania), but it's "only" a non-animated German language RPG (without a really decent and up-to-date English version) than a real Fallout-alike. (See the Roundup of All PPC Games Part I for more info on the two mentioned PPC games.)

Now, a real, free (!) Fallout clone has emerged from Russia. Russia has lately been exceptionally active on the Pocket PC gaming scene: it was just a few weeks ago that Death Drive, a really excellent Carmageddon / Destruction Derby / Twisted Metal / Death Rally clone and some days ago the first WarCraft III clone have been released. (...)

As with Death Drive, this title has set a new standard for free games. If you do speak / understand Russian and happen to have a pre-WM5 device, definitely give this title a go. If you don't but love Fallout, consider starting to study the language

Fallout is one of the cRPGs which was known for trying to bring the p&p world unto the video screen as closely as could be. Our good old friend Chris Avellone points out in an article about D&D, P&P and cRPG on computerandvideogames.com that this same philosphy sounded true in the design of Van Buren:

"We've used pen-and-paper role-playing to test out new computer game systems, as well as characters and area designs," says Chris. "Here at Obsidian, we role-played through the opening stages of Neverwinter Nights 2 to test the flow of the game.
(...)
In Interplay's Fallout 3, for example (A project that was sadly never completed - Ed), about a quarter of the areas and quests ended up being sparked by character actions and 'wouldn't it be neat if...' moments that arose during pen and paper playtests."

The creatures you'll find after Judgement Day keep surprising me. New Dawn has no added saber tooth tigers to the pack:

In today's news we are presenting you a family of smilodons, commonly known as saber-toothed tigers. Full-grown males are 120 cm tall and weigh 200 kg. Those carnivorous cats have long and sharp upper canines, a good sight and smelling and they are extremely powerful - all that makes them exceptional hunters. However, they start looking for a prey only when they are hungry since most of their time they spend lying in the sun with the rest of the pack. Sometimes lone animals can be found strolling around the savanna - they are males which lost their dominant position in a pack.

Desslock, who you might remember from asserting Fallout 3 will be on the East Coast, replied to remark from Briosafreak on the QTT forums:

Briosafreak: On a final note there seems to be a few doubts on how the game will turn out. First person and Real Time combat are locked, there's no way to change that

Desslock: All I'll say is that you are wrong.

Coincidences abound. After the recent fallout around community blacklisting, Bethesda has a new job opening since the 8th of February:

Community Manager -- Rockville, Maryland

Responsibilities:

*Actively manages all aspects of fan communities for all key titles, including The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Rogue Warrior, Star Trek, etc.

*Supports PR initiatives for all projects

*Administers and participates on official and fan forums related to all products

*Monitors and participates on external forums and sites and provides regular updates on fan interest, feedback, competitive information, etc.

(...)

*Fosters and maintains development of fan sites related to all products.

*Creates special programs and initiatives to drive traffic to official forums

I know, I know, no peripheral subjects, but we at NMA decided that the topic of Bethesda's blacklisting and general treatment of the STG website was a bit too interesing a topic to pass up.

For one thing, we want to show sympathy to STG's plight. Secondly, we want to remind people that the RPGCodex is also a critical and blacklisted site, allegedly for inappropriate content, but that story is thinning by the second. Thirdly, it offers a possible look at the future for us, if Bethesda makes the wrong choices we could end up in the same position.

So we cornered Star Trek Gamers' webmaster Victor to hear him out. A snip from the interview:

Now, people who know me know what I am like. I speak my mind. If I dont like something I say it right on the front page of the site, screw the consequences. It got to the stage where Bethesda Softworks' silence was getting beyond a joke, and that's when The Argus Array, the STG's Star Trek Gaming podcast (which gets about 100,000 listeners) went on the record and listed the flaws of the game in a constructive manner. Argus 13, 14 and 15 all discussed what was wrong with the game and then Lindsay Muller (some kind of artist in Bethesda) came on the official Bethesda boards and said that the Argus Array must follow Bethesda Forum policies...basically Bethesda was now trying to dictate what i should put on my own podcast which I pay the hosting for.

...needless to say I wasn't happy. They didn't want criticism, but I gave it to them full bore. I told them exactly what I thought of Legacy. All the while another particular "fansite" remained silent. It got to the stage where official "volunteer" moderators in the Bethesda boards were allowing any topic made by me to be flamed, but at the same time they banned any of my staff in the forum for the slightest misdemeanor.

Shacknews conducted an interview with Pete Hines on many things, including Fallout 3's production. Some big snips:

Shack: You guys have your own trademark series so you're used to dealing with fan expectation, but is it different or intimidating working on a franchise like Fallout that already has such a built in reputation?

Pete Hines: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. For a couple of reasons. Number one is that we're treating it as if we made the first two, with the same care and attention we give to The Elder Scrolls, but the truth of the matter is that we haven't. As a result there's probably a lot more divergent opinion about what it should be, what we should do, are we the right guys to do it, and so on.

Shack: Is there any of that internally?

Pete Hines: Internally, not really. Internally, we're a bunch of Fallout geeks. There is nobody [here] who hasn't played that game and enjoyed it. I have that game on my laptop, I take it with me and play it. But it's definitely different, because it's not really considered ours, the franchise. We didn't start it. There is a little bit of that sentiment out there that we have to prove that we're worthy to be the guys to make Fallout 3. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, because we have very high expectations for ourselves. The standard that we hold ourselves to, the kind of games we expect to make in terms of quality, we have a very high level of expectation. There's really nothing like the people from the outside expecting more than we expect ourselves.

It's a lot like when we were doing Morrowind. Everybody said, "Well, the last game you did was Daggerfall, and it was really buggy, and everything you're telling me about Morrowind sounds good but you need to prove it." It kind of has that same feel, that people are saying, "Yeah, I liked Oblivion, and you guys are good at roleplaying, but you have to prove that you aren't going to screw up this beloved franchise." We think we can do it. We are the right guys to be doing this franchise, we do take it seriously, and we do want to make it a powerful force in roleplaying in terms of what these games can do and be. We hope that when we show people what we're up to, they'll agree. Some folks will, and some folks will say it's not what they wanted. At the end of the day, we respect that, but we have to do what we think is right. Again, you can't make the game that everybody wants because you'll get ten different answers about what that game is.

Shack: Have you spoken at all to the original creators of the franchise--who from what I know already had less complete involvement with Fallout 2 than with the first game--in any capacity?

Pete Hines: We have, on an individual basis. Some of those folks have contacted us on varying levels, whether it's a "Hey, good luck" or a job inquiry or what have you. Not really formally though, no. Again, it's one of those things where I have a lot of respect for those guys. I was a huge Black Isle fan, and all those RPGs coming out of Interplay at the time. I loved Baldur's Gate, Fallout. It was fantastic. Way back when, when I wrote for the Adrenaline Vault, Interplay was one of my companies. I used to cover all their stuff and play everything they put out. I still have my shrinkwrapped copies of Baldur's Gate and Planescape. They did great stuff for which I will always have tremendous respect. But at the same time, if we're going to move forward, we're really going to have to move forward. We can't just say, "Well, let's ask these guys what they think." As Fallout fans and guys who make roleplaying games and have for over a decade, we have pretty good ideas about what we want to do and how to do it.

Chris Parks and dude101 joined forces to work on a mod to update and expand the location of Modoc, adding a band of thieves/bandits called the Cold Hearts, adding a blacksmith and generally expanding the area questwise. The mod is currently being inegrated into MIB88's Megamod, but for those who can't wait it can be downloaded on NMA.

Link: Download Modoc + Cold Hearts mod on NMA
Link: Mod thread on NMA

DaC's Mismatch has taken the daring step to write a two (or three)-piece article to define the Fallout games. It is short, harsh and daring as Zorro on (armoured) horseback, and concludes with a six-item list: 1. Setting, 2. Dialogue, 3. Cause and Effect, 4. Freedom, Non-linearity, and open endedness, 5. S.P.E.C.I.A.L, 6. Turn Based Combat.

Link: Mismatch's Defining (The) Fallout(s): Part 1 on DaC

The Escapist is covering Bethesda's history and direction in a recent article. It gives some interesting info on the way ZeniMax treated Bethesda father Chris Weaver and how the purchase of Bethesda by ZeniMax influenced the company. They have some excellent comments on the purchase of the rights to Fallout 3:

In addition to extending the franchise he inherited from Weaver, Howard and Bethesda are taking on another franchise, one with more baggage than a five-time divorcee: Fallout.

(...)

Praised by fans for its dry-as-a-bone, dark-as-night humor and the huge scope of the world, Fallout has been on a nigh-Biblical journey. The original game was the only one to have its creators' names on it, and each progressive version, from Fallout 2 to Brotherhood of Steel, has gotten progressively worse. Cain, Boyarsky and Anderson couldn't get the rights to the franchise from Interplay, and their work on a spiritual successor was cut short when their new company, Troika, went bankrupt. But Bethesda, with their deep pockets and street cred to match, was able to capitalize on Interplay's financial trouble in 2004 and acquired the Fallout license.

But even though Bethesda has the chops to make an open-ended RPG dripping with carve-your-own-path potential, history has proven that it's not easy capturing Fallout's humor and charm. Howard, a guy who's done a good job picking up on The Elder Scrolls' nuances, isn't too worried.

"Like I was talking about before, with sequels, you have to define the experience the first one had and stay true to it," he said. "I think the first Fallout's tone is brilliant, but then they start to drift in the sequel and subsequent games. When it comes to humor, I'm very anti 'jokes' in games. Most designers try too hard to tell a joke, and it just doesn't work. I think good humor for Fallout is dry, almost satirical. Like getting your leg blown off, blood starts spraying all over the place and you get the little [PIPBoy] interface image giving you the thumbs up - I find that funny. Horrible situations juxtaposed against cartoon mascots. But that's just me.

"We're headed in the right direction. I want us to be seen as the developers that keep that old school game experience at heart, but keeps pushing it forward, that tries new things. If you see 'Bethesda Game Studios' on the box, you know there are some crazy ideas in there. We won't always get it right, but we'll always keep trying."

Here's something we missed quite a bit ago. Eurogamer, a few months ago, did a first impressions of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Check out the soundbite:

He starts talking about "smart terrain," but we're cut short. In essence, GSC's ambition has been to create a living, breathing world to surround the overarching storyline. "Oblivion with guns" is a simplistic description, but you get the idea.

"Oblivion with guns" was the tantalising soundbite that squirted from Patrick Garratt's word-teat following his trip to the reactor, and it's easy to see why. Vast, open landscapes await you, with story missions and side quests approachable in any order you fancy. Well, almost. One of the first things you realise is that, as always, the lofty ideal of non-linear gaming doesn't quite match the reality. There's a story to be told, and stories need structure. While you can piddle about, admiring the scenery and gathering items for as long as you like, the game does subtly herd you in certain directions whenever the narrative needs to be advanced. It's never crude or intrusive though and as you get to choose when this herding will take place, it's hard to resent the presence of a little formal structure.

Again, much like Oblivion, the game takes a good few hours to unfurl in all its glory. Once you get past the early stages, the maps open out to offer a lot more opportunities for improvised exploration and character interaction.

All this RPG banter is, of course, secondary to how the game performs at its primary function - that of first-person shooter.

(...)

Start thinking of it as a kinky radioactive threesome between Far Cry and Deus Ex, with a smidgeon of Oblivion's RPG trimmings, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what's coming your way in March.

On of our forum users, Lancelot, made a short film in honour of Fallout 1, 10 years old this year. It is a prototype tribute video; clips from the original, strong underlying soundtrack. Take a look:

Link: Fallout - Please Stand By on Youtube (shortversion)
Link: Fallout - Please Stand By (longversion)

Misleading Lands, the French post-apocalyptic Unreal-based project (freshen up on it with our original post here). Is doing well. From our French compatriots at nukacola.com:

Hi, just few words to speak about our last news on Nukacola about Misleading Lands. The development makes progress : 1 vehicule, 6 weapons and the main character have been integrated in the game. They still plan to release a demo which will include many quests and a short movie.

Remember when GCG said the Fallout PnP d20 would be released before Christmas? Well, that was obviously not right, but they're not dead, they just had to push the release date forwards. From their forum:

Q: Hi. Any news as to a release date yet?

A: It all depends on how long it takes to make final revisions, editting, and print layout. Play-testing concludes at the end of February, then the forementioned above goes into effect. We plan a late Spring release, provided no furthur delays on the projects. While play testing is going on, we are setting up the OPS Fallout campaign, so this will also be ready to launch at the same time.

Last week we refreshed everyone on the history of Fallout fans.

This week we'll look at the questions we posed then, the "What is wrong with you people?" and "Why are you always angry?" questions.

This part has two chapters; the first is about the bitterness of Fallout fans, it looks at how this bitterness is actually a part of what kept the franchise alive, but also look at how this anger has developed in respose to the way the Fallout franchise was treated.

The second chapter looks at the way gaming franchises work, how franchises like X-Com have died while the TES series has been thrown about in odd, but successful ways, and what we can expect from the Fallout franchise if maltreated like that.

Link: Glittering Gems of Hatred part II on NMA

Thanks to Rusty Chopper and Team MIB, we now have an unofficial translation of the Russian description of the Fallout Online project we recently covered:

Today I have the pleasure of introducing to you a new project with the famous name Fallout Online, no less, Fonline for short. Although I called it a new project, it has been existing for rather a long time already. In the beginning we had the idea of making MUD (an online text game) based on Fallout (at that time I wasn't even on the Internet yet, by the way), several people formed a team and started developing a new game engine, but the project did not live to see its realisation (as it looked way too miserable to be called Fallout) and the team broke up, only a couple of guys remained, Olegmmm and Kosh. The first one is a programmer and the second - the mastermind. They worked in that tandem for about a year and a half, amassing ideas, and Oleg was programming the engine. Just don't think that within a year the engine reached Doom 3's level, it isn't actually easy to encode while studying the last year at the university. Later by creating a couple of foolish threads I unwillingly involved two TeamX members, myself not participating in the project at that time. They are still working there. When I already was member of the team, I created the thread "Fallout online in theory" once again (and thus got +2 to my karma, and, in my opinion, I did not deserve it), after that people came in crowds to enter the team and become programmers. I'll say only that just a few of them remained with us and also our special respect to Den Baster, who finishes encoding the engine and is in charge of the server. I don't say the names of the rest of the members on purpose, let them show themselves.

Now, our team is developing the Fallout2 engine which includes:
- the online mode of the game that substitutes the single-player mode, the players will have the fonline client using FO2's resources, and consequently it won't be possible to use it apart from the game;
- the reworked and complemented SPECIAL system, because naturally the online version needs a significantly different gameplay, the player won't be able to feel being the Chosen one and omnipotent, welcome to the brave new world of the Wasteland;
- the altered (complemented and reworked) game's world which includes the maps of FO1 and FO2;
The minimal task is to realise this using the major part of the original resources.

Although our Fonline isn't likely to come out before F3 by Bethesda, we've got the alpha-version, or better the pre-alpha one... let the programmers tell you about it. The client itself certainly won't be demonstrated publicly, but here are the pieces of evidence of our team's activity:
The hero moves; the basics of combat (1,5Mbs);
The hero waves the knife;
http://www.fieldglory.narod.ru,
http://www.falloutfor.nm.ru/new/FOscrin screens among which is the new interface.
For those who don't want to waste their traffic on it, I'll describe what takes place there before the viewer's eyes. The client part represents the map with all the objects (except for the animated colours and roofs), after logging in NPCs appear on the map, currently they can walk (without noticing the walls) and speak (we borrowed the social parts from MUDs); recently the basics of the inventory and the person's parameters (aka dud) appeared. Poor, you say? Everything is in the online mode, though! My computer shows around 600 FPS (this is a brief comparison with the closet rival IANout).

I've opened this thread as an announcement. Later on we'll discuss several problems here with the general public, if necessary. Until then, if you wish to specify any questions about the plot and the altered SPECIAL, send me private letters. I won't answer anything in particular all the same, so let's keep the thread clean.

Mini-FAQ
In brief:
- The mod is called "FOnline".
- The combat will be of the real-time type.
We will try to create a dynamic world, where the player will be urged to set out on constant journies and to solving different problems.
- There will be town assaults. But the guards will be tough (not by their HP rate or their weaponry. The guns will correspond to the location's income. You won't get shot from a rocket launcher in a village, but in the NCR or in New-Arroyo you are likely to be warmed up by lasers).
- The economics is founded as a very important part of the game. The game is going to be more about social and economic activity than about click&kill.
- Currently we are planning the possibility to become a SuperMutant, but those who will go for it for the benefit of getting thick skin and a load of hit-points, will be disillusioned.
- And several trifles: breaking and wearing away weapons and armour, getting used to weapons, grinding skills through their application, single plot-connected quests, five basic factions (two of which are at the status of cold war, and it is for the players to decide whether to be warmongers or peacemakers), unique map (100% complete), including the joint FO1 and FO2 maps plus many other things, quest system with many levels, which will adjust to the game situation and so on.

Death - the state of complete loss of hit-points. All the belongings, money and the rest will remain in the corpse's pockets. The character will be reanimated in the nearest branch of Atan company.

We usually don't cover peripheral subjects much here at NMA, but this was a bit too interesting to skip over.

Some of you may know Bethesda has published Star Trek: Legacy, developed by Mad Doc. To call the game a disappointment would probably be an understatement. To say that Star Trek fans feel insulted by this piece of hoodah would be closer to reality.

Thankfully, Bethesda has solved that problem, by blacklisting a big critical Star Trek site. From their head admin:

Yes folks, it turns out that Bethesda Softworks have taken a leaf out of our old friend Activisions book when it comes to dealing with criticism, blackball them. Today Bethesda Softworks removed the STG's link on the fansite page and all links going to STG in the bethesda Softworks forum has been removed...with no warning to myself or the staff.

Well, to start off, let me give you the official statement;
"Linking to this site is not permitted due to prior infractions of our forum rules and Bethesda's terms and conditions."

Considering the abuse you've given to devs and moderators who either work for bethesda, or volunteer their spare time to moderator the forums here. both on this site and on your own, and on your podcasts, And considering your general disruptiveness and negativity, bethesda has decided to remove any and all links to the STG.

Any post containing it has been removed, and made after today will be edited, the same goes for signatures.

I'm sure Bethesda is very sorry it had to come to this, but they believe you left them very little choice.

We are the ONLY SITE to have shown this much support for Bethesda Softworks. Bethesda have literally used and abused STG's massive coverage for their own advancement of Star Trek: Legacy, a poorly designed, poorly planned out game, a game for which Bethesda are taking heavy criticism for, and they will continue to be blasted by this site and The Array for taking advantage of the good will of STG and taking advantage of the trek gaming populace.

Once again, we are faced with a game publisher who cannot take criticism, and once again the Star Trek gaming public suffers. I had a gutfull of Activision, im sure as hell not going to sit back and watch as another incompetent publisher takes the helm of this once massive gaming franchise. For the sake of trek gaming in general, its about time the readers of this site voice their concern of the blackballing of the biggest and oldest trek gaming site who have shown more support than any other trek gaming site out there.

In a sight very familiar to us Fallout fans, Fallout has made another "MIA" list. Surprisingly, it made it twice, once as Fallout 3, once as the Fallout MMO. From IGN:

Fallout 3
Developer: Bethesda
Publisher: Bethesda

What Was Promised
In December 2003, the morale of PC fans plummeted with the news that Black Isle Studios, the team that made Fallout 2, had been closed. It appeared that a new Fallout game was just wishful thinking. But in April 2004, during a call to investors, Interplay revealed it was planning on making a new Fallout title for PC. Though the game was not currently being developed at that time, the mere promise that some day Fallout 3 would come was enough to make PC fans cheers. As fate would have it, Interplay hit some financial snags and Fallout 3 was once again in danger. Fortunately, in July 2004, Bethesda Softworks grabbed the rights to Fallout, opening the way for Fallout 3 to finally see development.

Where It Stands
It's coming. AT E3 2005, Bethesda's booth sported a Fallout 3 poster. The game itself was not on display, but was confirmed to be in production. A year and a half later, nothing more has been said about Fallout 3. Fear not, Bethesda's official stand is that Fallout 3 is still in development for PC, but we won't hear much about it until later in the year.

(...)

Fallout MMO
Developer: TBA
Publisher: Interplay

What Was Promised
To be fair, almost nothing has been said about the Fallout MMO. In fact, hype for a Fallout MMO grew from a statement by Interplay CEO Herve Caen, stating simply that one was being planned. Since that point there has been no news, previews, screens, or trailers on the MMO. The massively multiplayer Fallout title is the very definition of a game missing in action.

Where It Stands
When Bethesda purchased the rights to make Fallout games, those rights did not include creation of an MMO. Odd as that may sound, Bethesda is somewhat limited in what it can do with the franchise. The license for a Fallout MMO remains with Interplay and its CEO Herve Caen. As such, it seems unlikely the title is in development.

Sparking some discussion, King of Creation asked a question on DaC, challenging Fallout criticasters to back up some blank statements:

Why, please tell me, is turnbased combat an unrealistic approach in the market? The Fallout series was a commercial success, and Tactics held records for pre-order. Some of the most successful RPG and RPG-esque games in history have had turnbased combat, most notably the Final Fantasy series. You cannot tell me that Final Fantasy was not a commercial success.

So to anyone reading this, I pose this challenge: Prove to me that turn-based combat, or even any other aspect of Fallout gameplay, is not marketable.

I don't want to see baseless claims like this one by aries100. If I (and the rest of the FO community) am to be convinced that turnbased combat is unreasonable, then I need a very convincing argument.

I also encourage any developers that read this, whether from Bethesda or from another company, to add some input to this as well.

DaC has posted a short editorial that is a bit odd (angsty?) in nature, but could possibly reflect the feelings of a number of Fallout fans:

As many of you may understand, this unsettles many of us. How can a company that has not released a single RPG in quite a while manage to release a worthy sequel to one of the best cRPG franchises in history?

Bethesda's main audience is eight to twelve year old kids, (or people on that mental level) and their games bloody well reflect it. How are we supposed to trust a company that clearly states that they intend to release FO3 to this audience too?

(...)


Maybe you shouldn't have resurrected it just to kill it off again. Why buy a licence only to make a game totally different from the series? The whole idea of a series of games is to stay on the same track, keep the canon and stay with the same atmosphere. Bethesda has shown us that they won't. By aiming towards the xbox and, mostly, by saying things like: "We'll do what we do best."

Why didn't they just create a new PA universe. Create their own game.
It might have been good. Who am I kidding? It might have been decent. Or playable for a week or so.

But buying FO3 just for hype creation and marketing purposes is bloody sneaky. We will remember this.

Beating Herve Caen to the punch (yes, we still haven't heard any news from his Fallout MMO project), the Russkies have released a video clip of their Fallout Online project, which shows how combat and dialogue is handled. Combat seems to go along with continuous turnbased-lines of Tactics, an interesting method. Some screens (from the project, not from the clip):