13pm
Water Chip? Been There, Done That
Fallout 3: A Post Nuclear Blog has put up an interview with Brother None and SuAside, NMA members that went to Leipzig to see the Fallout 3 demo and then wrote a detailed Fallout 3 preview based on what they've seen.
<blockquote>How did the idea of going to watch the Fallout 3 demo come about? Was there really a need of some secrecy and why?
SuAside: I simply heard that NMA was thinking of sending people to Leipzig. I figured I might as well chip in and go see FO3 for myself. I’m sure you would’ve done the same if you were given the same opportunity. Since I was available and had the right background, I decided to volunteer.<...>
As for the secrecy part? I never hid the fact that I was an NMA regular. My nickname on the Madshrimps.com site is the same as the one I use on NMA. I never actually lied about my motivation either, I was there to write a review for [M] but at the same time I didn’t see much harm in cooperating with NMA and answering a series of questions from the fanbase. And to cap it all off, I also told Pete that I visited NMA when it was my turn to ask some questions, though that was after the demonstration…
Brother None: Well, after the press showing Bethesda did where they invited a few journalists to show the demo, and after not going to E3 to see the demo there, NMA kind of realized it had to take matters into its own hands. It was originally just a luftballon putting it out there idea, but after a while we figured it was actually realistic thanks to help from friendly media (GamerNode, our host AtomicGamer and SuAside’s boss at Madshrimps really helped us out) and financial support from the fanbase. A typical independent move, really.
<...>
The only secrecy was not applying in the name of NMA and yes, that was necessary. NMA’s head, Silencer, applied for NMA just after I got in with my application for GamerNode, and was turned down because there was “no room”. In Leipzig, SuAside and I could see journalists getting in by signing up on the spot. So the “full” thing doesn’t seem that likely the reason NMA didn’t get in. Matt Grandstaff later confirmed that it just wasn’t the intention to show it to fansites (despite showing it to smaller and less professional sites than NMA, but it’s the fan-stigma, I guess), so we wouldn’t have got in without some secrecy, yes.
You’ve talked a lot about what you saw in the demo, so let’s just go through your memories once more
.
Is Vault 101 well made, in terms of Fallout canon and level design?
Brother None: Yes. It looks more or less like a 1:1 conversion of the vaults from Fallout into 3D, except for the odd steampunk door and the changed vault suits.
SuAside: Quite a few elements were skillfully transformed into 3D and Beth obviously did try to incorporate the FO look & feel of the vault. We raced through a few parts of the vault, only stopping at some scripted events, so it’s pretty difficult to offer a real opinion on the global design. There was only one room where Pete took the time to really look around, and I’ll admit that that one felt rather well made.
But don’t expect a copy! They naturally tried to incorporate their personal vision into it as well. Overall, the parts of the vault that we saw did look rather good, with a few minor exceptions. Personal downers for instance were the way the vault door opens, the vault jumpsuits and the tool belts. It should also be noted that the vault had a distinctively darker feel to it, and appeared less well maintained (compared to Fallout’s isometric view of the vault, not as much some of the talking heads, which sometimes had pretty dark backgrounds in the vault).
But then again, it might as well be a wrong impression from my part…</blockquote>That's just a small bit of it, go read it fully at Fallout 3: APNB.
Thanks Briosafreak for an interview and Brother None and SuAside for their answers.
Link: Community Corner: Atomic Ninjas Interview
<blockquote>How did the idea of going to watch the Fallout 3 demo come about? Was there really a need of some secrecy and why?
SuAside: I simply heard that NMA was thinking of sending people to Leipzig. I figured I might as well chip in and go see FO3 for myself. I’m sure you would’ve done the same if you were given the same opportunity. Since I was available and had the right background, I decided to volunteer.<...>
As for the secrecy part? I never hid the fact that I was an NMA regular. My nickname on the Madshrimps.com site is the same as the one I use on NMA. I never actually lied about my motivation either, I was there to write a review for [M] but at the same time I didn’t see much harm in cooperating with NMA and answering a series of questions from the fanbase. And to cap it all off, I also told Pete that I visited NMA when it was my turn to ask some questions, though that was after the demonstration…
Brother None: Well, after the press showing Bethesda did where they invited a few journalists to show the demo, and after not going to E3 to see the demo there, NMA kind of realized it had to take matters into its own hands. It was originally just a luftballon putting it out there idea, but after a while we figured it was actually realistic thanks to help from friendly media (GamerNode, our host AtomicGamer and SuAside’s boss at Madshrimps really helped us out) and financial support from the fanbase. A typical independent move, really.
<...>
The only secrecy was not applying in the name of NMA and yes, that was necessary. NMA’s head, Silencer, applied for NMA just after I got in with my application for GamerNode, and was turned down because there was “no room”. In Leipzig, SuAside and I could see journalists getting in by signing up on the spot. So the “full” thing doesn’t seem that likely the reason NMA didn’t get in. Matt Grandstaff later confirmed that it just wasn’t the intention to show it to fansites (despite showing it to smaller and less professional sites than NMA, but it’s the fan-stigma, I guess), so we wouldn’t have got in without some secrecy, yes.
You’ve talked a lot about what you saw in the demo, so let’s just go through your memories once more
.Is Vault 101 well made, in terms of Fallout canon and level design?
Brother None: Yes. It looks more or less like a 1:1 conversion of the vaults from Fallout into 3D, except for the odd steampunk door and the changed vault suits.
SuAside: Quite a few elements were skillfully transformed into 3D and Beth obviously did try to incorporate the FO look & feel of the vault. We raced through a few parts of the vault, only stopping at some scripted events, so it’s pretty difficult to offer a real opinion on the global design. There was only one room where Pete took the time to really look around, and I’ll admit that that one felt rather well made.
But don’t expect a copy! They naturally tried to incorporate their personal vision into it as well. Overall, the parts of the vault that we saw did look rather good, with a few minor exceptions. Personal downers for instance were the way the vault door opens, the vault jumpsuits and the tool belts. It should also be noted that the vault had a distinctively darker feel to it, and appeared less well maintained (compared to Fallout’s isometric view of the vault, not as much some of the talking heads, which sometimes had pretty dark backgrounds in the vault).
But then again, it might as well be a wrong impression from my part…</blockquote>That's just a small bit of it, go read it fully at Fallout 3: APNB.
Thanks Briosafreak for an interview and Brother None and SuAside for their answers.
Link: Community Corner: Atomic Ninjas Interview
