Category Archives: Fallout 3

Modding Interview: Cube Experimental’s Dennis Weich

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Cube Experimental is one of the more impressive mods you’ll play for Fallout 3. Even more impressive, it was created entirely by one man: Dennis Weich, a member of acclaimed modding group SureAI.

In this week’s modding interview, we had a chance to fire some questions his way on the topic of his labyrinthine Cube, a work that took him 5 months and some 500 scripts to complete.

Can you briefly introduce yourself, Dennis?

I’m 22 years old and come from a town called Starnberg, which is situated on lake Starnberg not far from the Alps and south of lovely Munich, Germany. When I’m not staring at the mountains, I’m a commercial assistant for processing information. And for sure I’ve been a modding enthusiast for the past seven years.

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Todd making (radio) waves again

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DJ Todd is at it again. Following an appearance on Kotaku Talk Radio yesterday, Todd was featured this morning in a news story on NPR.

Joshua Brockman’s story, When Pay Means Play: Video Game Jobs on the Rise, is apart of an ongoing series this week on NPR called New Jobs For A New Decade. Featuring Todd and a few others, the story focuses on the growing popularity of games in the United States, and the new jobs coming out of that demand.

Read or listen to the story here.

Fallout 3 cameo found in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel?

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Fallout 3 plays a minor role in the animated film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, if an internet tipster is to be believed.

According to one R Wisnewski — who dubiously claims his “kids” saw the PG-rated flick — Fallout 3 is featured “prominently” during one scene. The post-apocalyptic epic is apparently spread across the cover of a digital magazine prop laying within the room of a vidgame-playing rodent.

Our sources are still tracking this one down, so file it under rumor for now. However, it seems entirely plausible to this reporter that small mammals would enjoy reading about Bethesda games. If you’re feeling brave, be sure to let us know if you can confirm.

Around the Web: Post-holiday purging

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The trees are coming down, the family has left town, and the big ball will soon be dropping. This probably means that many of you are finally getting some time to enjoy that hot holiday loot. Outside of red picky sweaters, what sorts of stuff did you guys haul in this year?

Of course, since family members can’t often be relied on to buy anything cool, some of you are probably looking to treat yourselves with a little gift card action. Toward that end, UGO recently put up its “Things Every Gamer Should Own” feature. In a teasing gesture, the list’s number one slot was occupied by the unobtainable Fallout 3 Brotherhood of Steel statue (pictured above). Unfortunately, the editors there have since outfitted the imposing soldier with a dainty fanny pack. Perhaps it’s time for the other brothers to stage a rescue op.

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Vault Boy Baking 101

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Last week I posted about my initial attempt at a batch of Vault Boy cookies, knowing full well it would quickly be bested by better bakers. The above image proves me correct.

Snack or Die contributor Jocelyn recently produced her own batch of Fallout-themed confections, improving on the original concept in several ways. Note the expert use of hand-drawn details to fill in the doughboy’s facial features, and the skillful crook of frosting to form the distinguishing thumbs-up pose.

While the challenge is still open to interpretation, less creative students can simply copy from Jocelyn’s notes here.

That’s all for today, class. I expect to see your ash-pile macaroons and Super Mutant turduckens on my desk by tomorrow morning.

Around the web: Back to the Future edition

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Great Scott! As one of the few creatures scurrying around the office, today already feels like the night before Christmas, even if it’s two nights before Christmas. Most everyone has left for the holidays, and I’ll be doing the same soon. But before I head out, I thought I’d round up some of the latest online coverage — this time dominated by coverage of the 2000s, 2009, and 2010.

Top games of the decade, top stories of the year, best dinosaurs of all time — with both the year and decade coming to an end, these lists keep coming in. We start with IndustryGamers’s Top 20 Stories of 2009 –which features ZeniMax’s aquisition of id Software at #18. Speaking of id, RAGE makes Telegraph’s Top 10 Most Anticipated Games for 2010.

Elsewhere, Fallout 3 is in good company in Big Download’s Best PC Games of the Decade, while Morrowind and Oblivion share a spot in GameStooge’s Top 50 (with the countdown still going). Also, at The Yorker, Bethesda Game Studios ranks #9 in a list of the Top Ten Game Developers of the Decade.

While most sites are looking back at 09 and the decade as a whole, Joystiq revisits 2008 to help gamers find great titles with better deals. Making the list is Fallout 3.

Heading back to the future, head to Splash Damage’s site — where they have news on the “most wanted” lists Brink is making for 2010.

On the subject of what people want — see what Pete and Todd (and other industry folks) told Kotaku they want for Christmas. More on that soon.

YouTube video showcases FWE mod

I found this video in our mailbag and thought I’d share it with you (and the Fallout 3 dev team). Titled Fallout 3 – Wanderers Edition (FWE), this amazing  mod trailer had producer Craig Lafferty saying, “It’s Call of Duty Fallout 3!”

Once the video wraps, stick around for the credits to see what mods were used. FWE can be downloaded at Fallout 3 Nexus.

Thanks to Kai Hohiro for sending the link. When you see cool stuff like this on the web, let us know.

Holiday Mods for Oblivion and Fallout 3

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Here’s a look at some holiday-inspired mods the community has been working on…

Up first, check out TES-Alliance, where there’s an interview with WhoGuru and InsanitySorrow, who created the Happy Holidays Mod. Here’s an excerpt from the interview…

What is your favorite element of your holiday project?

InsanitySorrow: My favorite aspect of the project is working with friends; I have WhoGuru building the mod alongside me and Nicoroshi modeling some nice little things for us. I think more important than that is it’s a festive project, something that should be enjoyable for all that play and I just love that aspect of the project.

Find out more on the project here. Meanwhile, Princess Stomper has put together a new mod for Fallout 3 called Winter Wonderland. This mod adds festive lights and decorations (from Dukov’s house) to key locations in Fallout 3. The mod also bring holiday treats, and some hidden Easter Eggs stocking stuffers (16 holotapes featuring A Christmas Carol).

Echoing what St. Nick noted earlier this week, let us know if you’ve worked on some cool stuff for the holidays — whether it’s cookies, mods, ornaments, etc.

Update: As mentioned in the comments below, be sure to check out Oblivion Real Estate’s 12 Mods of Christmas, where they’re sharing a new mod everyday. The countdown can be found here.

Weekend Update: Snowed in edition

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Bust out the sleds and snow tires! The Capital Wasteland is under a snow advisory, so I thought I’d warm up and share some of the latest news around the web (and in print).

Last month we let you know Australia kicked off voting for their 1st Annual Golden Joystick Awards. The results are in — with Fallout 3 winning Xbox 360 Game of the Year. Meanwhile, you can pick your favorite games in Gamespot’s Best Games of 2009 Reader’s Choice Awards. The Gamespot staff has nominated WET for Best Original Music and Fallout 3 for Best Downloadable Content/Expansion.

In addition to handing out awards, the end of the year is always a good time to look ahead. Kotaku has a photo tour of 40 titles they’re looking forward to on Xbox 360 next year — a list that includes both Brink and Fallout: New Vegas. As we have more details on both games, we’ll let you know.

Finally in print, the January 2010 issue of OXM has a feature titled “How The World Ends.” The article is a bit an “apocalypse how?” — discussing games that tackle possible ways Earth could reach its demise (and the possibility of that actually happening). Among the grim futures they discuss are atomic warfare (Fallout 3), Meteor Impact (RAGE), and the inconvenient possibility of global warming (Brink). Look for the issue on newsstands to find out more.

That’s it for now — time to build a snowman.