Fallout GURPS Vision Statement

Bewitched

aka Vault_13
The excellent Russian Fallout site Fallout Archives has uncovered the original vision statement for the Fallout GURPS project (later just Fallout), the one quoted from by Todd Howard here. Go to this page and the document will start downloading/open automatically, or grab it from NMA here.<blockquote>4. The players actions affect the world (and the world reacts to the player)

The game will notice what the player does and respond accordingly. If the player shoots up people in a tavern, the other patrons will notice. If the player seems badass, then the patrons will leave him alone and go on their way. If the player looks like a wimp, the patrons could take him on. As the player gains a reputation, NPCs will notice – moving out of the way, or going out of their way to kill the player.
Once again, we want the player to get involved with what is happening within the game. If the player feels like he is making a difference, then he will want to play more – even if it is just to see how he can change the game world

12. Detailed character creation rules and premade characters (more choices, imagine that from a role-playing game)

The player can choose between detailed rules for making his character (like buying attributes, skills, advantages and selecting disadvantages to get more points) or he can choose from a set of three characters that we will make.
The premade characters will be detailed, and will embody the three types of players: combat, stealth and diplomacy boy. This will let some players nitpick their characters to death, or jump right into the action.
As the player gains experience, he can improve his character’s skills and attributes. This will let the player change his character during play.
Detailed character creation is important to many role-playing games, and it is certainly important to GURPS. Letting the player fine turn his own character will get the player more involved in the character, and thus the game.

13. We are making this for the public, but we’ll make the GURPS players happy (it gets pretty ugly when they get too happy, you need a lot of paper towels)

GURPS Fallout will be a GURPS title, using the GURPS rules. But first and foremost, it will be a fun role-playing game. It will just happen to have enough GURPS material to make the GURPSers happy. We must keep this in mind. The game comes first.

GURPS gives us:
• detailed tactical combat (turn-based but not slow)
• realistic NPC reactions and reaction based skills
• complex characters that are very life like (with faults and advantages)
• non-combat skills that are useful
• balanced encounters
• a core following of dedicated players</blockquote>The document was put on Game Pitches two years ago, but somehow everybody missed it.
 
I really wish Junktown had presented the moral ambiguity suggested by this document. Although I still like the town, the more I learn the more it feels like a missed opportunity.
 
This says it all -

The team is motivated (Tim has incriminating documents on all of us). This is extremely important. Team GURPS is excited to be making this game. Everyone on the team is happy with what they are doing. We want to do this. We care about this game and we will make it cool.

It's obvious this was a labor of love for these guys, and not just more mindless dribble shoved down the publics throat. It's amazing how hard they needed to fight to get this game out, and now almost 20 years later Fallout must be considered Interplays greatest moment.
 
Brother None said:
And, as suspected, Todd Howard kind of quoted the convenient bits.
Spoonfeeding you all you need to know, and leaving out those pesky, hard to digest bits. Todd's specialty.
 
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