Fallout (New Vegas)

    Quote from SamCom

    What do you think they did wrong? The dialogue and characters killed it for me, besides the fact that the main story quests felt weak. I didn't feel like it mattered if I found my dad or not. But some of the side quests were a blast, and I thought it was very atmospheric , just wandering through the wastes was pretty fun.

    the entire atmosphere just reminded me of oblivion with guns. the music (apart from the main theme) was unfitting and i cringed every time it switched to the "battle theme" while you were out exploring. the music of any of the isometric games is far more dark, and this for one creates a much better atmosphere. on top of that, like you said the characters and dialogue. the entire companion system (or whatever it's called) is crudely made, and the AI is disasterous.

    in addition to that, it felt like DC was not a coherent whole, but rather small pieces that sometimes didn't fit together very well. you went from one metro stop to another underground and ended up on the other side of the map. or you went a long way underground and ended up almost next to the same spot you were in before, but with an entirely different theme (compare super mutants to those watery things, i can't remember their names).

    that being said, there were some things that were very fallout-esque, such as the vault with the toxin released, fucking up the map for you; or the bit where you find those people in stasis (perhaps excluding the entire memory lane thing, it didn't fit the rest).

    More details emerge:

    http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/fal ... 697p1.html

    Quote

    * There will be a hardcore mode where the character must drink water to stay alive, ammo has weight, and healing isn't instant. Said Sawyer: "A lot of the things in Hardcore mode are also things that I personally wanted to play the game with. I realize not everyone does, but it's the only way I play it."

    Sounds like they hired the guy who did the Fallout 3 Wanderers Edition mod, or ripped off his work.

    http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2761

    There's also the detail that the body being dug up by the robot in that teaser is the player, who was left for dead in a shallow grave. The robot's controlled by a doctor who was a former vault dweller, that's how the plot starts.

    Huh? Then what, you're resurrected?

    Anyways, F3 mods? Yes!

    It's so much fun to play F3 with these kind of mods. Like you have to eat to stay alive and shit like that. Feels a lot more like a RPG, and that you're in a live world.

    Fallout wanderers edition is awesome, Fallout3 lovers here at core, make sure you try it. It's also good used in conjunction with martys mutant mod, now that's hardcore.

    You know if I ever decided to play FO3 and all the DLCs it would be over a year before I finished that lot, let alone FO4.. these games are built to fucking last for sure. I cba though, open world games are too much for me sometimes, Hell I kept getting lost in S.T.A.L.K.E.R...

    Damnit the new PCG has a 6 page spread on this with screenshots but my scanners broken so I can't show you guys Tbh it doesn't look all that different from FO3, looks like the Oblivion engine again, suspect low-res textures abound...

    The lack of ambient shadows really kills me on that engine... It can render shitloads of stuff at once though, aka great for landscapes. But... it looks old, really, old. No matter if the quality of the art your throwing at it is good or not.

    Quote

    The lack of ambient shadows really kills me on that engine... It can render shitloads of stuff at once though, aka great for landscapes. But... it looks old, really, old. No matter if the quality of the art your throwing at it is good or not.

    You next gen guys and your zbrushes...

    Call me a fanatic but I really like the lighting system and art solutions taken in Fallout 3... They came up with clever solutions to get that huge game made in time (generic decals for destroyed edges instead of modeling every chipped piece, AO baked on vertex colors, great usage of modular assets, etc). Bethesda is a relatively small company. How many people worked on Fallout 3? A hundred? Assassins Creed 2 had 400 people at peak for comparison sake. Of course Fallout 3 doesn't have the polish levels AC2 has, but FO3 is quite an achievement for Bethesda. They really did the best they could.

    I always learn a thing or two related to environment art when I play Fallout 3. I think every environment artist (professional or amateur) should play Fallout 3 with critic eyes and try to figure out how and why they did certain things.

    The subway tunnels, although too long and boring, make a lot of sense game design wise. And don't say Fallout 1/2 were truly open because they weren't... cities had clear boundaries and areas blocked off.

    Nothing justifies the horrible animations, stupid plot and broken camera system (360 version) though

    i have to agree with mino here. the game strikes me as a too ambitious project for a relatively too small but very talented devteam. i ran through it again the past few days but i kind of like the atmosphere. there are some annoying things that partly ruin the experience (music, programming and animation to name the most important imho) but that doesn't take away for me that this is quite an inspirational game for me. the leveldesign is sometimes a little blend, but in most places i was impressed by lay-out and atmosphere of most areas. this game is fun and interesting as it is, but it had alot more potential.

    In all honesty I thought the harsh crappy environment light in Fallout 3 actually suited it lol. Wastelands aren't supposed to be bountiful

    Quote from dux

    In all honesty I thought the harsh crappy environment light in Fallout 3 actually suited it lol. Wastelands aren't supposed to be bountiful

    [Blocked Image: http://z.about.com/d/compactiongames/1/0/U/D/1/fallout3_ca001.jpg]

    in one sentence, and in one shot: this is fallout. this is exactly how i would picture fallout in 3d, and i always associate this particular piece with the area around the glow, from fallout 1. it isn't boutiful, but it's beautiful in its grittiness, desolation and nature. if this had been how the game looked, i would have been overjoyed for atmosphere.

    instead, we got this:

    [Blocked Image: http://unrealitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/fallout_3_3.jpg]

    notice the green filter(you know, because green is the universal radioactive color, NOT the base color of the material that is radioactive ), the seemingly overused plastic cliffs, and the general detail level. this game didn't do what it was supposed to do, art wise. they SHOULD have gone for regular weather (unless there is a cataclysmic event that smokes out the entire planet or the sun dies, WEATHER WON'T CHANGE, and neither will the atmosphere, refer to above statement about radioactive material). the green in fallout 1-2 sort of worked because it fitted the style; but since a new and more realistic style was needed for fallout 3, it was a wrong move to port something as bad as the tint.

    this is actually something that they have done better in the new vegas trailer (even the fallout 3 trailer had green smeared all over the screen), it is very neutral in its color scheme.

    huh... The weather and colors actually play a big role in the game design and game atmosphere in FO3:

    Wasteland areas

    - Clear sky

    - Slightly warmer tones

    - Dead Vegetation

    [Blocked Image: http://www.gamingdaily.co.uk/images/Fallout%203-2009-02-18/Fallout3%202009-01-23%2021-00-33-87.jpg]

    Capital area:

    - Overcast sky

    - Colder tones give a feeling that's a dangerous area and you aren't supposed to be there

    - Less vegatation

    [Blocked Image: http://www.girlsentertainmentnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/screen47b.jpg]

    It's all about art direction choices man... Fallout 3 is not supposed to be realistic at all, what are you on about? If they had actually gone for a realistic setting there would be no buildings standing at all and overgrown vegetation would be lush and covering everything (after a few years radiation levels would drop allowing plants to grow again).

    And about the detail level... I really don't get what you mean.

    i'm on about that their concept art doesn't match their game art. if you really think those are their intentions, then why aren't they in the concept art? and even more so, how can you possibly say that the green tint does anything good for the game?

    apart from that, the wasteland itself is a dangerous place (there were lots of smaller encounters that didn't have colder tones, look at the wooden buildings or cave entrances you sometimes came by), and there were places within the city that were remarkably friendly yet still had colder tones (that city built inside the ship, i can't remember its name). plus, with the green tint you can barely see the sky (whether your statement is actually true), so i'll call bullshit on that one.

    When i saw the concept art i was like YAAAY!!! Then when i saw how it ended up ingame i was like MEEEEEH!

    I understand they had limited resources bla bla but the feel is just not quite right.

    Quote from Sentura

    i'm on about that their concept art doesn't match their game art. if you really think those are their intentions, then why aren't they in the concept art? and even more so, how can you possibly say that the green tint does anything good for the game?apart from that, the wasteland itself is a dangerous place (there were lots of smaller encounters that didn't have colder tones, look at the wooden buildings or cave entrances you sometimes came by), and there were places within the city that were remarkably friendly yet still had colder tones (that city built inside the ship, i can't remember its name). plus, with the green tint you can barely see the sky (whether your statement is actually true), so i'll call bullshit on that one.

    The initial concept pieces were commissioned to craig mullins (including the one of the wastelands you posted) to help the team develop the initial idea of the game. That's why they are so different from the final result.

    As for the green tint: If you look closely it's only used during certain periods of the day and in certain areas. I think the ambient color palette is actually varied. You have sun rises, sun sets, nights, etc...Each time of the day has its own color correction filter and the engine smoothly switches between them.

    I think the green tint actually helps to set the game apart from the old fallout games (which were pretty brown). FO3 takes place on the other side of the country afterall. It would be wise to go back to brown'ish tones though again on New Vegas and perhaps that's what they are gonna do.

    Well but that's just me and taste should not be judged =)

    the point i was really trying to make was that they were trying too hard, and ended up with something different than if they had just taken the concept art as a base rather than a way to develop the initial idea. you can make the warm tone palette broad and varied; you don't have to stick with brown, without taking in the green tint. you say they had filters that switch. i don't think i ever noticed, but if that was the case, they could have made those filters with contrast - as the sun goes down, the sky slowly turns more reddish, and the ground turns more blue-ish; reverting back again at dawn.

    however you turn it, it just seems like mediocre art direction at best; and i think that's really sad.

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