Todd Howard in Official XBox Magazine podcast

[Tannhauser]

The latest episode of the Official XBox Magazine podcast features a lengthy interview with Fallout 3 executive producer Todd Howard. The Fallout section of the interview, while not revealing all that much new information, lasts between 21:27 and 37:00. The host starts off on this helpful note:<blockquote>Fallout, whether you liked Oblivion or not, odds are you will probably like Fallout for the same or different reasons, depending on your perspective.</blockquote>A transcript of where Todd Howard speaks on similarities between Oblivion and Fallout 3:<blockquote>But its still a game where you walk around, you go to towns and talk to people, and you're getting quests and deciding which way you want to go with them. Lots of combat out in the wasteland, lots of combat down in Washington DC; other kind of holes and destroyed buildings that act as dungeons, for lack of a better word. And, you-know, a lot of free-form exploration, those kinds of things. There are, in the basic game, if you were to lay it out feature-set wise, there are a lot of similarities [to Oblivion] in the kinds of things you do as a player.</blockquote>Various topics raised are the cult status of Fallout (which Todd Howard denies, asserting Fallout was always a mainstream game), Zenimax's acquisition of the license, core design goals, humor, and differences/similarities between Fallout 3 and Oblivion; but there is little new information revealed.

Link: KOXM Episode 75.

Spotted on the Bethesda Blog.

 

[Pope Viper]

MAINSTREAM??! WTF is he talking about? I don't know how many times FO has been referred to as a "niche" game, with a "cult" of followers.

 

[Black]

This proves (once again) that Toddy doesn't have a f**kin clue what he's talking about.

 

[Starwars]

It's pretty funny how they have this quote on the podcast page:

Our old friend Todd Howard stops by to chat up his latest RPG project, Fallout 3. It won rave reviews at E3

Bethesda could probably package the game right now, charge 1000$ a piece and the gaming site/magazine idiots would still slobber all over it.

EDIT: At least it's nice that Todd admits that people would cheer a piece of crap on E3?

 

[Tannhauser]

At 27:15:

You know, the cult following part of it, I don't know I would define it, because it was ten years ago you might define it that way now, but back in the day it was definitely was very, very popular.

 

[13pm]

have you noticed? all Beth devs that give interviews always speak with same words.

dungeons, for lack of a better word

exactly the same words that were not so long ago spoken by Pagliarulo.
and again f*ck dungeons.
and what the hell? lots of combat? man, things get worse and worse... I won't be surprised if we'll have to shoot through crowds of behemots with a portable nuke at the end of the game.

You know, the cult following part of it, I don't know I would define it, because it was ten years ago you might define it that way now, but back in the day it was definitely was very, very popular.

a nice example of dialogue with INT=2...

 

[Makagulfazel]

At 27:15:

You know, the cult following part of it, I don't know I would define it, because it was ten years ago you might define it that way now, but back in the day it was definitely was very, very popular.

Hah, I wish. Then, just maybe, we would have a Fallout game on the way and not just another spin-off.

It won rave reviews at E3

Every time someone uses the word "rave", I always get the images of weirdos in my head:

 

[Bernard Bumner]

You know, the cult following part of it, I don't know I would define it, because it was ten years ago you might define it that way now, but back in the day it was definitely was very, very popular.

Which seems reasonable enough, in a way - the game is less well known now than it was when it was released, a hardcore of fans has developed whilst the rest of gaming societ has moved on and all that - but surely something is described as "cult" with respect to its present status, rather than how it was received at the time?

Hmm, its a pretty minor point anyhow.

Fallout, whether you liked Oblivion or not, odds are you will probably like Fallout for the same or different reasons, depending on your perspective.

Er, what?

 

[Starwars]

Sweet, he just compared the Fallout core idea with the Elder Scrolls core idea. Appearantly they are very similar to each other.

And again, they're talking about VATS like it's some very innovative thing. I mean, in terms of functionality it's a limited realtime w pause game. The difference is that we will get some slow-mo video when we unpause again.

Also, here Todd talk about that your guns skill affect how easy it will be to aim (bad skill will make your gun waver a lot). No mention of dice rolls here. Annoying again as there have been reports that there ARE dice rolls that determine if you will hit or not in realtime. So which one was it?

 

[SuAside]

well, the mainstream thing is partially right. afterall, FO (1&2) were amongst the big sellers of their year (and hence could be seen as mainstream).

however, it is after that, that it gather a cult following.

so either way kinda works. it's mostly semantics...

 

[Vault 69er]

The original Fallout was however intended as a niche game. The fact that it sold more than was expected is simply a testament to it's quality, but it still wasn't "mainstream".
Of course, Todd's Fallout 3 is fully mainstream, trying to be all things to all people. So naturally he tries to pretend the original Fallout is just like his own abomination.

Really, Todd needs to shut the hell up. Everything he says amounts to a large pile of verbal diarrhea.

 

[Madbringer]

He wouldn't say all these things if there wouldn't be people who listen. A whole lot of people, at that.

This makes a certain Madbringer very sad.

 

[sickfuck_diablo]

What is Todd Howard's actual role in the development of F3? Is he designing anything? Or just 'managing' all the teams and overseeing everything?

 

[Brother None]

At 27:15:

You know, the cult following part of it, I don't know I would define it, because it was ten years ago you might define it that way now, but back in the day it was definitely was very, very popular.

That sounds more or less accurate. Not completely, since "very, very popular" is an overstatement. But Fallout was more halfway between cult and popular than just cult. It's the franchise that became sort of cult with failed spin-off attempts, not the original games per se.

What is Todd Howard's actual role in the development of F3? Is he designing anything? Or just 'managing' all the teams and overseeing everything?

Executive producer. I don't think he designs anything, but he has final decision on every design element

Sweet, he just compared the Fallout core idea with the Elder Scrolls core idea. Cheers Cheers Cheers Appearantly they are very similar to each other.

Something he's been trying to do since day 1, and I've been complaining of it since day 1. It's a superficially true statement, in that both games allow freedom for the player, beyond that it is patently ridiculous.

 

[ratsnack]

Are there any fallout/f2 mods by the f3 dev team around? Maybe from years past?

wow..what a punch to the face. Its not even called Fallout 3 by this podcast (perhaps a sign of things to come)..its Fallout and its a follow up to Oblivion. I see, I understand everything now.

 

[Per]

Fallout, whether you liked Oblivion or not, odds are you will probably like Fallout for the same or different reasons, depending on your perspective.

"You will like Fallout 3! There will be a reason!"

 

[Literacy_Hooligan]

I have an idea. Let's play pokemon instead. It's turned based. It's almost an RPG.

 

[ratsnack]

I'll wait for "Burnout3 with Body Parts"

 

[Pipboy2000]

Fallout, whether you liked Oblivion or not, odds are you will probably like Fallout for the same or different reasons, depending on your perspective.

"You will like Fallout 3! There will be a reason!"

You may be able to actually play the game from the third person perspective!!

So we'll like because it's like Oblivion or like it because it's not like Oblivion, awesome!

 

[iridium_ionizer]

Various topics raised are the cult status of Fallout (which Todd Howard denies, asserting Fallout was always a mainstream game),

Fallout was a sleeper hit. And even as new generations of gamers have forgotten it, it has become more respected amongst gamer aficionados and critics.

Now does a sleeper hit mean its mainstream? I don't know, but what is true is that a mainstream PC game in 1997 is very different from a mainstream PC game in 2007. In today's industry PC games that are thought to be surefire hits are often developed in parallel with console versions.

In 1997 games developed for the PC often had console ports considered only after the PC game was a success (e.g. Tomb Raider, Quake). And ports back then were less costly and less time consuming. Today, any PC game that is not developed alongside a console version is that way because 1) it is not a guaranteed hit (or demographic considerations), 2) there are control/interface issues preventing the smooth adaptation, or 3) the developer has enough control to ensure that a bad adaptation doesn't wreck their brand (e.g. Blizzard).