Topic: Fallout 3

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, I don't understand how it can't be repaired.  It's code.  You want it prepared, you rewrite the code!

But still, even if mouse control is broken, I'd need to hear that controller functionality was somehow broken as well, which doesn't make any sense considering how perfect it is on the console versions.  I imagine it's fine and just nobody bothered to try it, and as Sy has said, this is more a controller-based game anyway (though I think it could have worked okay with a mouse if they hadn't screwed that up).  So it probably works fine as a PC game if you use a 360 pad or whatever you've got handy.  I'm guessing.

[Xessive]

Yeah, I don't understand how it can't be repaired.  It's code.  You want it prepared, you rewrite the code!

But still, even if mouse control is broken, I'd need to hear that controller functionality was somehow broken as well, which doesn't make any sense considering how perfect it is on the console versions.  I imagine it's fine and just nobody bothered to try it, and as Sy has said, this is more a controller-based game anyway (though I think it could have worked okay with a mouse if they hadn't screwed that up).  So it probably works fine as a PC game if you use a 360 pad or whatever you've got handy.  I'm guessing.

Oh thank God, I thought you were talking about FO3! I had to backtrack to the last few posts of the previous to see that you're talking about Dead Space. I woulda been shattered if it was FO3!!

I don't understand what the problem is exactly with Dead Space or how it only affects mouse controls.

[Pugnate]

Yeah, I don't understand how it can't be repaired.  It's code.  You want it prepared, you rewrite the code!

But still, even if mouse control is broken, I'd need to hear that controller functionality was somehow broken as well, which doesn't make any sense considering how perfect it is on the console versions.  I imagine it's fine and just nobody bothered to try it, and as Sy has said, this is more a controller-based game anyway (though I think it could have worked okay with a mouse if they hadn't screwed that up).  So it probably works fine as a PC game if you use a 360 pad or whatever you've got handy.  I'm guessing.

Yea I read the problem still exists with the 360 controller on the PC. Also, I don't understand how it can't be fixed either. I'll go link hunting..

[MysterD]

As long as they patch this issue out of the PC version of Dead Space before the game gets dirt cheap, then I'll be happy.

[gpw11]

If gamepad works I'm happy.  Find me info on that...now.

[gpw11]

On Dead Space PC:

I just did some quick looking around and it seems like a majority of the control complaints stem from one review (or something).  That doesn't really matter.  What does, however, is that apparently turning off vsync fixes the floaty ass mouse problem.   True or not, I have no idea.

I'm still looking to play with a pad based on what I read here..mainly from Que.

[Quemaqua]

All I can say is that every single link I found on google regarding "dead space pc controls" just came with a link to that WhatIfGaming place, so I'm almost ready to cry bullshit.  Seriously, every single link is just someone reporting what they said, and who the fuck ever even heard of these people?  I sure haven't.  And nobody else seems to be complaining, so... I have no idea.  It'd be nice to get a 2nd opinion.



 ... and after a little more searching, it appears the problem may be related to some systems and not others.  Some people don't have any idea what the naysayers are talking about and report the controls work perfectly fine, or exactly like the console versions.  And some people seem to have issues with mouse/keyboard and controller both, indicating something is up with their rig and the game, not just the game itself universally.  And it very much sounds like something that could be patched up, and hopefully will be soon.  One guy I'm reading here says that when he's in a detail-light corridor and trying to aim, the response is super sluggish, but when he's in an area with tons of detail, his aim flies all over the place super fast.  So there definitely is something funny, and it's definitely not affecting everyone.

EDIT - And why the hell aren't we posting this in the proper thread?  Let's try to keep these discussions over there from now on, where they are infinitely more relevant and less likely to cause Xessive any more heart attacks.

[MysterD]

Que, I think when you said that "If it wasn't for Dead Space, the wait would be killing me (for Fallout 3)", then the whole thing went off-topic. GPW asked if it was out for the PC, Pug said it was but posted links saying to beware of the PC version; then on and on and on.

Anyways, back on topic....
Yeah -- next week, Fallout 3 finally comes out! Wo0t!

[Quemaqua]

I don't even know how to respond to you anymore.

[gpw11]

Haha.  I don't know why but for some reason that was really funny.

[Ghandi]

cant...stop...laughing...

[Xessive]

Hehe Que, your courtesy and concern for my well-being is much appreciated

Btw, has there been any word on modding for FO3? I mean other than BethSoft saying they'll likely release a toolkit later.

[Pugnate]

Que, I think when you said that "If it wasn't for Dead Space, the wait would be killing me (for Fallout 3)", then the whole thing went off-topic. GPW asked if it was out for the PC, Pug said it was but posted links saying to beware of the PC version; then on and on and on.

I was about to hang myself over the mystery. Thanks for clearing it up.

[Quemaqua]

No, Xessive, that's about as much as has been said.  I imagine it's going to function about identically to Oblivion, and hopefully it doesn't take long for the tools to release.

[MysterD]

No, Xessive, that's about as much as has been said.  I imagine it's going to function about identically to Oblivion, and hopefully it doesn't take long for the tools to release.

I'd seriously love to see what the FO3 Modding Community could and would do with Fallout 3 PC.

[ScaryTooth]

I don't think I'm going to go sneak at all.

Okay, My first 2 skills will be Small Guns, and Science. 3rd will either be Medicine, unarmed, or repair.

[MysterD]

I find myself in a lot of those open-skill system RPG's -- Elder Scrolls games, Divine Divinity, Beyond Divinity, Fallout series, Lionheart, etc etc -- I have to always have a skill or spell that involves healing (of hit points).

[Xessive]

I don't think I'm going to go sneak at all.

Okay, My first 2 skills will be Small Guns, and Science. 3rd will either be Medicine, unarmed, or repair.

I'm definitely going to try different things, as I have with Oblivion, but the temptation to go ninja all the way will be difficult to resist.

Something just occurred to me.. Will there be mounts? I haven't heard anything about it so I doubt it but I'm curious if there will be any vehicles you can commandeer. Doesn't really matter that much anyhow.

[Quemaqua]

I don't believe there will be, no.

[MysterD]

I don't think the car is in FO3, either.

There is no fast travel system here a la Oblivion neither, I don't think.

[MysterD]

Andy Kelly of PSM expands further on what he said in his review about how the PS3 version's graphics and framerate performance don't compare to the X-Box 360 version and (especially) the PC version.

Fallout 3 looks rubbish on PS3
22-Oct-2008 Claim the predictable internet headlines, but we've played it on all three platforms - and here's the real, if less exciting, truth...

Our exclusive Fallout 3 PS3 review (from PSM3#107) has leaked onto the Internet and, as expected, a single sentence has been dragged out, beaten and interrogated under a spotlight. This one; "The PS3 version compares poorly to its Xbox and PC counterparts." Which, in the parlance of the Internet, obviously means; "THE PS3 VERSION SUCKS! XBOX WINS! ANOTHER CRAPPY PORT!" But that isn't the case. The PS3 version just looks SLIGHTLY WORSE than the other versions.

The PC version of Fallout 3 is gorgeous. The colours are vivid, the draw distance is endless, the textures are high-res and the lighting effects are beautifully subtle, especially when you're gazing over the Capital Wasteland at sunset. It's the best-looking of the three.

The Xbox 360 version's textures are noticeably rougher than on PC, and objects in the distance aren't quite as clear. It does, however, boast an impressively solid frame rate. The game is, otherwise, identical.

NOW, the PS3 version looks the same as on Xbox, but things in the distance are slightly jaggier/rougher, the textures seem 'muddier' up-close and the frame rate is choppier, especially during the last few story missions (which may be the same on Xbox, but we've not seen the equivalent scenes to comment). We won't spoil anything, but the set-pieces here are MASSIVE, and the engine quivers under the weight of what's happening.

So, really, the difference between the Xbox and PS3 versions won't hamper your enjoyment of the game in ANY WAY. High-res textures or not, it's still the same huge, epic, absorbing, brilliant adventure.

And if you're bothered by a slightly inferior frame rate and fractionally blurrier textures, then perhaps, yes, you'd best buy the Xbox version, leaving the rest of us to enjoy an almost-identical, equally brilliant, game on PS3, while you smugly inspect concrete textures at terrifyingly close range to reap the full benefit, rather than, say, losing yourself in a 100 hour epic quest in an evocative post-apocalypse. Or having fun.

Good night.

Andy Kelly (the one who reviewed Fallout 3, and finished it on PS3.)

[Xessive]

Hmm, that is weird. Hope they patch the PS3 version. One of the reasons people go for te console version of game is to avoid having to worry about framerate drops and such.

I'm going PC anyway.. and I can hardly WAIT!

[MysterD]

This is from a blog where a teacher had his class that was interested in FO3 go play Fallout 1 and 2.
(I wish I had a class like that, back in my day!)

Basically, they hated it, at first -- only to find themselves quitting; uncertain how to play the game with its turn-based combat system; getting slaughtered easily; and other things. They remained still wanting FO3. Yet, teach kept telling them to keep digging at it;

They kept digging and wound up loving the game. Now, they've been at it and saying that they doubt BethSoft can top those two classics. LOL.

Oh, man -- I tell you, too funny.

[Quemaqua]

Pretty interesting read, in fact.  What's up with this guy?  I take it he teaches a class on games?  The site doesn't have any real info, and while I'd totally listen to his podcast, it's useless to me since all you can do is subscribe to it or use a shitty flash player to listen to it, so... I guess I won't be listening.

[gpw11]

I could never get into FO2.  I realize it may be a great game, but for whatever reason I just can't play it.

[Xessive]

I was always more into Japanese turn-based games (Final Fantasy etc.) and I could never get into Euro or North American titles, the function and style never really appealed to me. Until one game, which was apparently considered terrible, got me more interested. FOr the life of me I can't remember what it was called, only that it was out around 1999/2000 and it was about some alien-zombie infection. It was one of the earlier fully 3D games in the genre. It played a lot like Final Fantasy Tactics. While the critics rated it so badly I didn't mind it too much and it got me to go back and play games like Fallout.

[Quemaqua]

Could that be Odium?  The know nothing about it, I just remember the game's subtitle, which is the best ever:

odi.um:
n. 1 hate coupled with disgust

[Xessive]

Could that be Odium?  The know nothing about it, I just remember the game's subtitle, which is the best ever:

odi.um:
n. 1 hate coupled with disgust

Yes! That was it!

It was so-so, not a great game , but I give it credit for opening the Non-Japanese turn-based world to me.

[MysterD]

BethSoft's Todd Howard mentioned when you might expect a Fallout 4.

About three years, he hopes.
Won't be 10 years for another FO, though.

Gamers have been waiting 10 years for Bethesda Softworks' "Fallout 3," for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

"I think it's good for people to miss things," said Todd Howard, executive producer of the game. "Ten years between 'Fallout' is a bit long, but I think there's this nostalgia factor."

Fans of the post-Apocalyptic game, set in Washington, D.C., won't have to wait another decade for "Fallout 4."

Howard said he believes three years is a good time frame between games.

[Xessive]

Something just occurred to me.. Will creatures level up with you as with Oblivion? Or did Beth see the error in that?

[Quemaqua]

I still say that was no error.  It worked fine in Oblivion, even if it could have used tweaking.  But this has been addressed several times in this thread already, I think, or another one floating around.  There will be some world leveling, but far less than in Oblivion, and done in a different way when it's actually used.  But many areas are full of things that will simply kill you outright at lower levels.  It's more traditional.

[Xessive]

I still say that was no error.  It worked fine in Oblivion, even if it could have used tweaking.  But this has been addressed several times in this thread already, I think, or another one floating around.  There will be some world leveling, but far less than in Oblivion, and done in a different way when it's actually used.  But many areas are full of things that will simply kill you outright at lower levels.  It's more traditional.

It probably was mentioned around here but I was too lazy to search

It didn't bother me so much in Oblivion until much later (level 30+). Apparently if you level-up "ineffictively" the odds stack up against like mad! Basically the only way to level up "effectively" I had to find ways to get all three +5 bonuses for the before each lvl up and make sure I distributed them appropriately. Any minor misdistribution would lead to some serious consequences when I'm up against monsters I should be able to beat up easily.. As in they leveled up better than me! It was just too stressful later. Luckily I was able to reset my character's stats.

Apparently a lot of people were ticked off about the "leveling problem" as it seems to be referred to on the Wiki and in TES forums. There are a bunch of plugins that specifically address it anyway.

[Cobra951]

I would be amenable to a debate about what was the error, the whole concept or how they implemented it.  There's no question that as it stands it's a mistake.  The expectations in the genre are that grinding will gradually elevate you above the common foes and get you ready for greater challenges.  There may be room for the concept of beggars becoming Loki and Thor in there somewhere, but I personally don't see it.

[ScaryTooth]

Here is the instruction manual for anyone who is interested.

[Pugnate]

I would be amenable to a debate about what was the error, the whole concept or how they implemented it.  There's no question that as it stands it's a mistake.  The expectations in the genre are that grinding will gradually elevate you above the common foes and get you ready for greater challenges.  There may be room for the concept of beggars becoming Loki and Thor in there somewhere, but I personally don't see it.

Yea I thought it was a massive contradiction in an RPG, but we've discussed this in detail before. I am glad they chose a different route this time.

[Xessive]

The manual is full of amusing tid-bits

Accroding to the manual, I believe FO3 will be equipped with G4WL.. Don't really uderstand why, what with it being a singleplayer-only experience. Probably for achievements or something. As long as it doesn't bug out or interfere with the game I won't complain.

[MysterD]

I bet GFWL support is probably for Achievements.
I dunno what the hell else it would be needed for.

They better not require GFWL for required game activation.

[MysterD]

GameSpy interview w/ Emil
GameSpy interview on FO3 with Emil Pagliarulo of BethSoft.

GameSpy: Did landing a particular voice actor make you want to create a role tailor-made for them?

    Emil Pagliarulo: That's a great question. You know, by now everyone knows Liam Neeson is the voice of your father, and Malcolm McDowell is the voice of President John Henry Eden. For the father role, we had always dreamed of Liam Neeson. Come on, he's the quintessential father figure! We just knew his voice would be perfect, so the role really was written with him in mind. It's kind of surreal, looking back on it. I hear him in the game, and still can't believe we got him.

    And then there's Malcolm McDowell. He was actually a really interesting choice for us. We had sort of been struggling with finding the right actor for that role. I mean, we had a huge list of possibilities, but no one felt "right." Coincidentally, right around that time, we had all started watching "Heroes." When we saw Malcolm McDowell playing Linderman, then it just clicked. But remember, this is a British actor playing an American, so we knew we needed the same type of performance. What we got was Malcolm McDowell channeling Franklin D. Roosevelt. His performance just blew us away -- he really exceeded our expectations. So, for us it sort of worked in reverse -- we had these parts, and got the two people best-suited to play them. Talk about good karma!

Liam and Malcolm in lead roles for voice-acting should be great stuff.

But, you know, beyond the "biggies," we did actually create roles for a couple other actors based on their abilities. Mister Burke is voiced by Wes Johnson, who played Lucien Lachance in Oblivion. Nobody sells sinister like Wes, so there was no other choice.

Oh, yeah -- Lucien was pretty memorable in Oblivion.

We also used Stephen Russell, who old-school gamers will recognize as the voice of Garrett from the Thief series.

I've never met a voice actor with such an incredibly wide range. When we learned what Stephen could do, we were like, "Okay, he's doing this, and this, and this..." He's the voice of Mister Handy, to name just one of his roles.

Oh hell yeah @ Stephen Russell of Thief fame for voicing Garrett being in FO3!
Garrett is one of my favorite character of all time. Period.

But man, he's doing a number of voices in the FO3 game, too?
Cool.

Gaming Nexus interview w/ Emil
Emil got another interview here. This time, with GamingNexus

Gaming Nexus: Why develop a PC version at all? Given piracy and all the other issues with PC gaming why did you decide to release a PC version?

Emil: Bethesda’s been around the block a few times now, and we got our start on the PC. So we’ve still got quite a few old school fans who played the early Elder Scrolls games (not to mention other stuff, like the Terminator titles) on the PC. So there’s no way we’re going to abandon those fans.

From a production standpoint, developing a PC game is fairly easy for us, since all of our tools are on the PC, and we can get the game up and running instantly on that platform. The real difficulty for us is in stuff like compatibility testing. Our games are huge, right? So it’s difficult for us to test all the different permutations within the game itself. What if I do this quest, and then chose this path of this quest? Etc. Now throw endless hardware configurations into that mix and the amount of testing we need to do becomes mind numbing. But in the end, it’s worth it for us, and for gamers, certainly.

I wish more gaming companies companies would think like this.

[MysterD]

Here is the instruction manual for anyone who is interested.

That link didn't work for me.

This link works, though...

[Quemaqua]

They already said there's no DRM other than having the disk in the drive, D.  And yes, G4WL is just for achievements since there's no multiplayer or anything.  I don't know how that works since I've never purchased any game that had support for it, and if it's entirely optional and doesn't require me to install anything, fuck achievements.  I don't want or need any part of G4WL.