[Corley]

Fans of fallout should check out Arcanum of steelworks and magic obscura if ya get the chance, from the now defunct Troika... that if ya aint already.

Nice game, bit dated now.

http://arcanum.sierra.com/us/

As for Bethesda, imho the only things that have excelled with their previous rpgs has been the scope and scale, AI, narrative, story, npcs etc etc have all been seriously lacking if you ask me, so have things like combat mechanics.

Hopefully oblivion will put some of them to right, we'll find out soon enough i guess.

[insane_cobra]

RPGs Bethesda makes are very different than almost anything out there by their very design focus. They are primarily sandbox RPGs and in that context having traditional, pre-scripted story never mattered much. For what they strive to offer there hardly exist better games. I guess Gothic is the closest thing, but it's more focused on traditional, more linear narrative (not to counfuse with linear gameplay), or so I've heard.

However, they've pointed out they're very aware of the fact Fallout games are a completely different breed. The characters and the narrative are the most important elements there and they'll develop Fallout 3 with that in mind. Are they up to snuff? Like you said, we'll find out soon enough.

[Jeysie]

Originally Posted by Karmillo

I dont mind old games, it was just that the combat was really too slow for me... it kinda reminded me of something like civilisation the way you had to move spaces

Its been a while since I played it but I think I made it to some town and wasnt sure where to go, and I didnt want to go out searching cause of the combat so I gave up

I personally quite liked the combat in Fallout, *because* it was slower and more strategic. I find it interesting to have to plan out what space to move to, which item/weapon to use, ducking and squatting behind cover, etc. Jagged Alliance 2 had similar combat. It gives a bit more depth than simply "Cast Spell X on Enemy Y" (although that type of battling has its fun as well).

Of course, one fun aspect of Fallout is that if you plan it right, you can go the entire game without having to actually finish a battle at all. (You can't quite avoid getting into some random encounters, but you can run from them.)

As for the Bethesda thing, I've admittedly never played any of their games... but since I've read that the NPC interaction and such in their games tends to be weak, I'm wary of them tackling Fallout.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Karmillo]

The only bethesda games ive played are Morrowind and Pirates of the carribean, POTC had annoying controls...and I wish there would be a new Pirate game that wasnt ship combat

[insane_cobra]

Bethesda didn't develop Pirates of the Carribean, they just published it.

[Karmillo]

Really?
So wait, if they are publishers then why is someone else publishing Oblivion?

[jjacob]

Originally Posted by Karmillo

The only bethesda games ive played are Morrowind and Pirates of the carribean, POTC had annoying controls...and I wish there would be a new Pirate game that wasnt ship combat

I think there's a next-gen Pirate themed RPG/Action game in development, though what it's called I totally forgot, I remember being excited over a bunch of screenshots though, it looked very nice.

[Gonchi]

Originally Posted by Karmillo

Its been a while since I played it but I think I made it to some town and wasnt sure where to go, and I didnt want to go out searching cause of the combat so I gave up

Outdoorsman's your friend.

[insane_cobra]

Originally Posted by Karmillo

Really?
So wait, if they are publishers then why is someone else publishing Oblivion?

You're asking the wrong guy, I don't work for them.

[Fop]

Originally Posted by Karmillo

Really?
So wait, if they are publishers then why is someone else publishing Oblivion?

Good question, actually. Maybe Bethesda thinks they can't ship enough units so they turned to Take Two.

[CrimsonBlue]

Karmillo, the best pirate game to date is Sid Meier's Pirates!. Not exactly an rpg, and it does have ship-combat, but the game offers pure gold in terms of enjoyment.

[Kolzig]

Originally Posted by jjacob

I think there's a next-gen Pirate themed RPG/Action game in development, though what it's called I totally forgot, I remember being excited over a bunch of screenshots though, it looked very nice.

The developers of Sea Dogs and Pirates of the caribbean are working on couple of pirate themed rpg games right now.

Actually they released their biggest project to the Russian market in late December, but I've heard that it had lots of bugs so...

The game should have a european/us release this year, but I'm not sure if they've got a publisher. If they do, I hope that they'll fix those bugs and polish the game before the release.

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by Fop

Good question, actually. Maybe Bethesda thinks they can't ship enough units so they turned to Take Two.

Bethesda are a publisher, but they don't actually distribute any of their own titles; they use third parties such as Ubisoft and Take Two to handle worldwide distribution, allowing them to focus their finances on handling the actual production of titles and preparation of everything without having to worry about mastering and distribution.

I've seen Bethesda used as an example of this setup being commercially viable and successful.

[Fop]

Thanks for clearing that up

[Spiwak]

GameSpot Rumor Control:

Fallout 3 360-bound?

Source: The forthcoming issue of Official Xbox Magazine UK.

What we heard: When Bethesda Softworks announced it was taking over the Fallout license in 2004, role-playing fans rejoiced. The series, which had been dying a slow death alongside its flatlining publisher, Interplay, was suddenly in the hands of one of the most acclaimed RPG developers in the business.

Judging by an interview with producer Todd Howard how immediately after the purchase, Fallout 3 would be handled with much more care than it had been at Interplay. The latter publisher had closed series developer Black Isle Studios and stopped development of Fallout 3 in favor of releasing the tepidly reviewed spin-off Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel--the only console entry in the franchise--which was as so hated by Fallout fans that it was nicknamed "Fallout: POS."

Though Fallout 3 was a no-show at both the 2005 and 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expos, enthusiasm for the project increased over the last two years. The surge in interest paralleled the avalanche of critical plaudits that fell on Bethesda's latest project, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, GameSpot's 2006 Role-Playing Game of the Year.

With the Xbox 360 and PC versions of Oblivion--both based on the Gamebryo engine--earning near-equal praise, the prospect of the currently PC-only Fallout 3 also being released for the Xbox 360 became tantalizingly real. So tantalizing, in fact, that the fact Bethesda refused to rule it out in a recent interview with OXM UK led to a spate of "Fallout 3 coming to 360" headlines on Gamernews.org, playfuls.com, and No Mutants Allowed.

Unfortunately, the majority of the OXM UK article is merely the author talking about the possibility of a 360 Fallout 3, which he(rightly) speculates would be both technically feasible and financially lucrative. For his part, Howard dodges the mag's questions. When asked about Fallout 3, he says only, "We started work in late 2004 with a few people. We only had about 10 people on it until Oblivion wrapped, but most of our staff is on it now."

Avoiding any mention of platform, Howard continued, "We have pretty long preproduction phases on our stuff doing concepts, design, building prototypes, and such." He then dropped a tidbit more tantalizing to Fallout fans than fresh gecko-on-a-stick: "We should be ready soon to show it off, but we'll see."

The official story: Bethesda declined to comment on the interview, although Fallout 3 producer Ashley Cheng spoke highly of it in this blog. He also spoke of how he "hated" Fallout: BOS, indicating a 360 Fallout 3 would (hopefully) bear little resemblance to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox misfire.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus that anything official about a 360 Fallout 3 has been announced. Not bogus that the prospect gets gamers all hot and bothered.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

The possibility of an X360 Fallout is very sexy indeed. T'would be up there with Oblivion, Mass Effect, and Bioshock, securing the X360 as the good console home base for [Western style] RPGs.

[Spiwak]

No kidding. It's a real shame that I won't have anything to run these games for a long time.

[Dasilva]

I love the Fall out series, the story is great.

[Catbert]

Are there any screenies of this one at all? Even if dated.

[Aj_]

They've just come out of pre-production, there will probably be something in the next few months.