Monthly Archives: September 2008

On newsstands

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Thought I’d point out a few articles I came across while going through a stack of magazines at my desk.

The September issue of Play Magazine has an interview with Fallout 3 Lead Producer Gavin Carter. In the interview, the Gav discusses topics ranging from the Gamebryo engine, game performance and Fallout 3 gameplay. Here’s a sample:

play: What gameplay situations in Fallout 3 really demonstrate the engine’s new ballistics and physics system?

Gavin: The best situations to see this in are during VATS sequences. VATS allows you to pause time, target specific areas of an enemy, and queue up moves that are then executed in a cinematic fashion.

For more magazine coverage, hit the jump:

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Inside the Vault: Rashad Redic

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Rashad Redic is the latest Inside the Vault participant.

What’s your job at Bethesda?
I’m an environment artist — not so much the landscaping but more of the physical structures and props, and textures you’ll see throughout your travels in the wasteland. I’ve also done a large amount of our dungeon lighting.
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Educate yourself on Fallout at UGO

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If you haven’t checked them out already, UGO has two Fallout features worth reading. First, there’s a Fallout timeline that covers the fictional history of the Fallout universe between the years of 2052 and 2277 — the year in which Fallout 3 takes place.

Additionally, Adam Rosenberg has a piece memorable characters from Fallout past — discussing memorable charcters like the Vault Dweller, Harold, and of course, Dogmeat.

IGN wraps up Fallout 3 Week

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Fallout 3 Week concluded at IGN on Friday with a new preview from Erik Brudvig — summarizing their six hours of playing the game. Below are his closing thoughts:

“As my six hours with Fallout 3 came to a close, I brought up the map to see how much ground I had covered. It turned out that I didn’t see anything from the entire northern half. Even with limiting my travels to the southern region, there were still large areas I hadn’t yet had a chance to explore. This game is huge and the satisfaction you get from exploring is just as big. It’s been over a week since I played and I still can’t shake the desire to go back and look around some more. October 28 can’t come soon enough.”

Only a month to go until release. As new details surface, we’ll keep you posted.

What we’re playing returns

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As promised, this week we’re talking about the games we’re playing. No sports, no movies…just games. This weeks most popular titles? Seems like a good chunk of the team is devoting their time to Rock Band 2 and Warhammer Online, or both.

Here’s the rundown. Let us know what you’ll be playing…

John Pisano, QA: Warhammer Online, Rock Band 2, Warhammer Online, Spore, Warhammer Online, Condemned 2.

Michael Lattanzia, QA: Warhammer Online, SPORE!, Call of Duty 4, and maybe some actual tabletop games (read: Mordheim) this weekend.

Shannon Bailey, Programmer: Rock Band 2, Lost Odyssey DLC.

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Screenshots in 3D

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Over at Planet Elder Scrolls, member BerenSiana has created 3D screenshots of Oblivion. No, these aren’t the type that require crazy-looking glasses like the ones above. These are actually cross-eye pictures that, as you would expect, require you to cross your eyes to see a 3D image. For more information on the concept, head here.

Let me know what you guys think. As weird as it sounds, I’m incapable of crossing my eyes. Don’t know if it’s a genetics thing, but my dad can’t do it either. It sort of makes me feel like the guy in Mallrats that tries to see the sailboat in the Magic Eye picture.

Anyways, you can download BerenSiana’s screenshots here.

Born to be bad…

For every good, is there an evil? This certainly seems to be the case at IGN. Following David Clayman’s Good Karma preview, Erik Brudvig has followed up with a piece centering around Bad Karma in Fallout 3. In addition to the preview, check out the video above, in which Emil, Istvan, and Todd discuss playing the role of the bad guy.

Fallout 3 Week at IGN wraps up tonight with their preview finale.

Being the good guy

In IGN’s latest Fallout 3 update for Fallout 3 Week, David Clayman shares his thoughts on Fallout 3′s karma system. While playing the game for six hours, he made a point to see how things shake down when trying to be a nice guy. Here’s a snippet:

“The next stop was Megaton. At this point we’ve all heard about the first big choice between good and evil which is the fate of this ramshackle town built around an unexploded nuclear device. Some locals worship the bomb, others just try to steer clear of it, but only you have the power to detonate or disarm the hazard. In Bethesda’s early demos they showed us what happens when players decide cash is more important than human lives and blow Megaton into the stratosphere. This time around we had the chance to experience the benefits of keeping the town on the map.”

As you can see, there’s also a new video about Good Karma — featuring thoughts from Todd and Emil.