Fallout 3

Fallout 3 is being developed and published by Bethesda Softworks. It's going to be released in Fall of 2008 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The Fallout 3 teaser trailer has been released on June 5, 2007.

Information about the cancelled Fallout 3 project developed by Black Isle can be found in the Van Buren article.

See also: Fallout 3 FAQ.

Interplay
Fallout 3 was initially under development by Interplay, the original owners of the Fallout license, under the codename Van Buren. Interplay went bankrupt before the game could be completed, and the license to develop Fallout 3 was sold to Bethesda (a video-game studio famous for the Elder Scrolls series) for a $1,175,000 minimum guaranteed advance against royalties.

Bethesda
Bethesda stated it would be working on Fallout 3 in July 2004, but principal development did not begin until after The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was completed . Bethesda has announced their intention to make Fallout 3 similar to the previous two games, focusing on non-linear gameplay, a good story, and true "Fallout humor." Bethesda has also stated the game will be rated M for mature, and will have the same sort of adult themes, violence, and depravity that are characteristic of the Fallout series. Fallout 3 will use a version of the same Gamebryo engine as Oblivion, and is being developed by the same team.

Reception
Game Informer was the first to release scans and a preview of the game, though this was leaked on the internet several days before hand. It was a positive preview, but most previews are. On the first of June, all the other magazines and websites who had been invited to the event released their news bits as well. Overall, the reaction was positive and many of the reporters considered themselves 'old fallout fans'.

Leonard Boyarsky, one of the creators of the original Fallout, when asked about Interplay's sale of the rights to Bethesda, said that he felt as though "our ex wife had sold our children that she had legal custody of," admitting that he feels very possessive of the series. Considerable concern was also raised some members of the series' fan community concerning Bethesda's purchase of the rights to the Fallout franchise from Interplay.

In response, Bethesda has tried to reassure those fans of the series that they want to preserve the feel and quality of the Fallout franchise. In 2007, Vice President of Public Relations and Marketing Pete Hines stated, "Internally, we're a bunch of Fallout geeks. There is nobody [here] who hasn't played that game and enjoyed it. I have that game on my laptop, I take it with me and play it. But it's definitely different, because it's not really considered ours, the franchise. We didn't start it. There is a little bit of that sentiment out there that we have to prove that we're worthy to be the guys to make Fallout 3. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, because we have very high expectations for ourselves."

Gameplay
A cover story in the magazine Game Informer revealed that:


 * The game will use both first-person and third-person perspective.


 * Main character creation is implemented by specifying the character's childhood. The character's mother dies in labor in a Vault hospital, after which the player chooses the character's Traits and general appearance during the father's DNA analysis. Afterwards, the father removes his surgeon's mask to reveal a face much like the one chosen by the player for the character.


 * As a child in the Vault, the character receives a book titled "You're Special", whereupon you'll set the character's 7 primary aptitudes. The character receives training weapons and a PIP-boy during childhood, and the player's performance in various tests determines the rest of the attributes.


 * Skills and Perks are similar to those in previous games: the player chooses 3 Tag Skills out of 14 to be the character's specialties, and the character will gain a Perk every other level.


 * The Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, or V.A.T.S. real time with pause combat system will be implemented. Various actions cost action points, and both the player and enemies can target specific body areas for attacks, inflicting specific injuries. While using V.A.T.S., real-time combat is paused.


 * The game will maintain the same level of gore. All gory deaths in the game will be shown in slow motion. One of the featured screenshots is of a super-mutant's head exploding in great detail.


 * The game will revolve around the same three standard character archetypes and gameplay approaches of the 'Combat Boy', 'Stealth Boy', or 'Charisma Boy'.


 * The game will feature a new health and radiation system. The player can measure an object's radioactivity and gauge the effect it will have on the character.


 * Karma titles, similar to those from previous games, will grant Xbox Live Achievements on that platform.


 * Characters will be able to create small blasts by targeting nuclear generators and using nuclear catapults.

Changes from previous games

 * While Fallout and Fallout 2 featured turn-based combat and top-down isometric view in a 2-D engine, Fallout 3 features real-time combat (like both spin-off titles) and first or third person view in a 3-D engine (like ''Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel).
 * In the SPECIAL character system, the number of skills has been reduced from 18 to 14 and perks are selected every other level instead of every 3 levels. It is unknown whether any other elements of the character system will be changed.
 * Only the 'Combat Boy', 'Stealth Boy', or 'Charisma Boy' gameplay approaches were mentioned so far, Unlike Van Buren, the cancelled Fallout 3 by Black Isle Studios, where 'Science Boy' was also going to be a valid gameplay choice.

Story and setting
The game takes place in the year 2277 on the East Coast of what used to be the United States of America, mostly in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia (Unlike the first two games, which were set on the West Coast of the United States, mainly in California). The Player Character is a young inhabitant of Vault 101. The Vault has been sealed for the last 200 years and no one has ever left it - until it turned out that the PC's father has disappeared from it without any explanation. The young Vault Dweller leaves the safe shelter to look for his father in the ruins of Washington, DC.

During his journey, the Player Character will see some ancient monument from before the Great War, like the Capitol, the Jefferson Memorial or the battered remains of the Washington Monument in the ruins of Downtown DC, surrounded by the desolate Capital Wasteland. The central hub of civilization in the ruins of the former capital is Rivet City, based in and around the remains of a crashed aircraft carrier. Other settlements include the towns of Megaton, Springvale, Tenpenny Towers and Paradise Falls. Movement between the towns is possible through the Washington Metro tunnels.

The Brotherhood of Steel (represented by the Lyons' Pride Platoon) is also going to appear. Super mutants that are invading the world and are in a constant battle to push humans out will be the player's biggest foes in the game.

Analysis of published images
Between May 2 and June 5, 2007 Bethesda showcased 5 pieces of concept art by Craig Mullins on the Fallout 3 website during the countdown to the teaser.


 * The image published on May 15, 2007 shows a city with ruined skyscrapers and an aircraft carrier which has run ashore and is connected to one of them by a rudimentary bridge. The aircraft carrier appears to be the USS Oriskany although the image is mirrored thus placing the island on the wrong side of the ship. The picture that was used for reference is located on a website devoted to naval vessels.
 * The image published on May 22, 2007 shows a ramshackle, ruined townscape, with a sign for a "Satellite ride" in the foreground and the 1964 New York World's Fair's "Unisphere" theme sculpture in the background.
 * The image published on May 29, 2007 shows the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. with low-tech construction all around it, and a nearly intact Washington Monument in the background.

The concept art was commissioned before Oblivion was released and is only meant as generic theme showcasing - the artist and developers have confirmed that the images don't reveal anything from the actual game.

Production

 * Todd Howard - executive producer
 * Ashley Cheng - production director
 * Gavin Carter - producer
 * Jeff Gardiner - producer
 * Angela Browder - associate producer in arts department
 * Nathan McDyer - associate producer

Design

 * Emil Pagliarulo - lead designer
 * Joel Burgess - lead level designer
 * Brian Chapin - designer
 * Erik J. Caponi - designer (Word Writer/Quest Maker)
 * Alan Nanes - designer
 * Fred Zeleny - quest designer

Art

 * Istvan Pely - lead artist
 * Ben Carnow - character artist
 * Jonah Lobe - character artist
 * Gary Noonan - character animator
 * Christiane H. K. Meister - character animator
 * Megan Sawyer - associate artist
 * Grant Struthers - effects artist
 * Craig Mullins - freelance concept artist

Sound

 * Mark Lampert - sound design

Programming

 * Steve Meister - lead programmer
 * Mike Dulany - programmer
 * Ricardo Gonzalez - interface programmer
 * Brian Robb - AI programmer
 * Orin Tresnjak - graphics programmer
 * Jay Woodward - AI programmer

Other

 * Pete Hines - PR & marketing
 * Dan Ross - QA tester
 * Christopher Krietz - QA tester
 * Matt Grandstaff - community manager
 * Lindsay Muller - marketing

Cast

 * Ron Perlman - Narrator
 * Liam Neeson - Player Character's father

Official links

 * Official site
 * Official Fallout 3 Forum

Fansite links

 * Fallout 3 news at Duck and Cover
 * ''Fallout 3 news at No Mutants Allowed
 * Fallout 3 news at RPG Codex
 * Fallout 3: A Post Nuclear Blog

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