Fallout: New Vegas

[Servo]

Here's the teaser trailer for the new Fallout game, under development by Obsidian, not Bethesda, and is slated for a Fall release this year...



And some bits of info regarding what to expect from the game, from http://www.nma-fallout.com...

# There is an optional hardcore mode, the character needs to drink water, ammo has weight, healing isn't instant etc.

# Normal mode is more similar to Fallout 3 gameplay.

# The storyline is focused on the New California Republic vs. Caesar's Legion (slavers from the east) vs. New Vegas residents.

# You are not a vault dweller but are given a Pip-Boy by someone who is one.

# There is a screenshot of a vault suit as well.

# There is an assault rifle looking like the M4, as well as a new big gun with a backpack, held like a minigun.

# There are special moves for melee weapons in VATS - specifically a move for a golf club called "Fore" which seems to be a groin shot.

# The Hoover Dam is in the game and is supplying electricity to the city.

# There is a quest to rescue a ghoul from some super mutants. The ghoul can then become your companion

# The Geckos are back.

# There are both dumb and intelligent super mutants, including the elite Nightkin. On at least one occasion you can convince them to fight amongst themselves.

# Some super mutants look similar to the ones in Fallout 3, while others are new. There is e.g. a female super mutant with a 1950s hairstyle who apparently is one of their leaders.

# Screenshots include a guy with a beard and straw hat, a ghoul and an NCR Ranger.

# The only picture of New Vegas itself is concept art and not a screenshot.

# Some location screenshots include a huge model dinosaur advertising a hotel, some satellite dishes, an array of solar panels

# A character generation shot showing a "vigour machine" instead of the skill book

# NCR base is the McCarran Airport, Caesar's Legion is based in the Vegas Strip, while super mutants are based in a place called Black Mountain.

# There is also a town called Fremont and another called Primm. A topless reuve is mentioned as being in the latter. Area 51 also appears.

# NCR Ranger armor is similar to a brown combat armor with sleeves, there are concept arts of a Ranger.

# Skils have a bigger effect on conversation choices. E.g. someone with a high Explosives skill may be able to have a coversation about explosives where appropriate.

# There is a Reputation system in addition to Karma.

# First-person action RPG with the same engine as Fallout 3.

# Set in the Mojave wastelands. Vegas didn't get many nukes. More intact buildings, as well as desert vegetation. Vegas itself is mostly intact.

# Vegas itself is mostly intact

# Both karma and reputation are tracked. If I'm reading it right there's separate reputations for each of the settlements, as in 1 and 2.

# All dialogue options are shown to all players, regardless of whether you have the stats to succeed or not, though there's no punishment for failure.

# Bartering is not just lower prices but negotiating for better rewards.

# Weapons also now have knock-back upon death, with shotguns sending people flying.

# Followers can be managed through a context-sensitive menu, with orders like "follow", "stay" or "attack".

# You're a courier, wounded and left for dead in a shallow grave. A friendly robot, Victor, digs you out, and his doctor owner Mitchell patches you up. You take a "vigour test", which is some sort of electric parlour game. This decides who you are and sets up SPECIAL. You can also take some Rorschach tests, but the mag says this is for fun. The Doc then gives you a Pipboy as he was once a Vault dweller.

# "Hoover Dam", and "Helios" (a solar plant, confirmed by the mag to have been built by Poseidon) are fought into and then you can direct the power to wherever you choose. In the case of Helios you can also keep the plant for your self, use the energy to call down a powerful laser, or even try to distribute to all equally, however there is a risk of overloading the reactors.

# There is a "reputation system", in which all three factions (NCR, Ceasar's Legion and the locals) will either see you as good or bad toward them individually.

# There is a screenshot of three Capital Wasteland mutants running toward the player, who is wielding what *looks* to be a heavy incinerator, but has a TV screen and no flamer fuel tanks. He's also wearing NCR combat armour, which is in gold/mustard colours.

# There are two separate screens of supermutants that look to be more local, grey skin, and the two are wearing very different clothes. One is Tabitha, who is hearing a blonde wig and love heart glasses. The mag implies she's "not all there".

# On that quest, you rescue Raul, a ghoul who Tabitha kept alive to fix her favourite robot. He appears to be a follower, as the mag says you can give him items, and also commands, such as "stay, follow or attack", and also tell him to switch to melee, in which case he'll mutter "sure, I'll put away my rather effective gun, and switch to this piece of um, metal tubing here".

# From what I read, the "all dialog" thing seems to imply there will be failures for skill checks as well as speech checks, though, as the mag states, there is no penalty for failing a skill check. In fact, the mag gives an example: A woman who the player tried a Sneak skill attempt on in conversation failed when convincing her an ambush would help the town be rid of a gang of raiders. She simply says "Good luck with your, uh, ambush"


Josh Sawyer, lead developer of Fallout: New Vegas, has clarified how skill-based dialogue options work:

"This is how it works. Each skill-based dialogue option has two different texts: one for high skill (which will result in success) and one for low skill (which will result in failure). If you do not meet the required threshold, you see the latter."

[The Evil Dead]

It's sounding really good. I'm a sucker for the Fallout universe and I have been for 13 years now, I'll take any opportunity to revisit it...Very much looking forward to this game, it seems very much in the spirit of Fallout 2.

[clint g]

I'm going to be cautious about this one. I still remember what Obsidian did to kotor....

[dragunzng]

Really looking forward to this, the trailer looks nice and colorful, which should make a nice contrast to FO3. I'm very curious how much of the game will take place in vegas, which looks relatively built up, and how much takes place in the dessert surrounding vegas.

Can't wait till we get to see the latest screenshots, I'm much more excited for this than Alpha Protocol, which looks... bland.

[SlaveOfSeven]

Looking pretty good so far. I enjoyed Fallout 3 a lot, but the dialogue was often quite abysmal (the stupidity of some of the "intelligent" options was particularly irksome), so things will certainly be improved on that front.

[firehawk12]

clint g wrote:

---

I'm going to be cautious about this one. I still remember what Obsidian did to kotor....

They took an average BioWare concept and made it better?

[clint g]

firehawk12 wrote:

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They took an average BioWare concept and made it better?

If by better you mean hacked and mutilated than sure

[firehawk12]

Of course, I mean interesting story and characters.

[The Evil Dead]

To be fair to Obsidian, KOTOR 2 was made in a year and was pretty good despite a very rushed final sequence and we've known about New Vegas since shortly after Fallout 3 first came out and they have another 6 months to work on it still.

[Skywalker]

Obsidian also improved on another BioWare game in Neverwinter Nights 2.

I'd still put KotOR 1 over KotOR 2, though, but Obsidian gets a lot of unfair flack for that. Maybe if LucasArts hadn't rushed them so much and let them actually finish the game, it wouldn't have the unfair reputation it has.

[firehawk12]

Story wise, KoTOR2 trumps KoTOR1. Hell, now that I think about it, as "the dark middle chapter of a SF trilogy", KoTOR2 trumps ME2.

And maybe I played it on PC and never had any problems, but I don't associate the game with bugs and crashes. The unfinished ending, yeah, but even with what's there? It feels like a much more complete experience than the BioWare games I've played since KoTOR1.

And you know what? There's every indication that New Vegas will be ten times the game - again, in terms of story - than Fallout 3.

[Reverend]

After owning KotOR for several years and after three attempts to play it, I've only now, this week finally gotten off that first planet. So far I have to say I don't get what all the fuss is about, though I suppose it doesn't help that I hate the combat system. Seriously. I feel like a total non-participant.

Example of a typical battle: -

*Click* shoot at that guy! *miss* *miss* *miss* you missed! how could you miss he's standing right there?!

I've just now finally got my hands on a lightsaber and I'm not impressed. Me and my squad keep getting killed by a bunch of animals and my character keeps missing them...with a lightsaber...at point blank range!!! I have half a mind to install Jedi Outcast, punch in the dismemberment cheat and show KoTOR what using a lightsaber should be like.

[clint g]

Reverend wrote:

---

After owning KotOR for several years and after three attempts to play it, I've only now, this week finally gotten off that first planet. So far I have to say I don't get what all the fuss is about, though I suppose it doesn't help that I hate the combat system. Seriously. I feel like a total non-participant.

Example of a typical battle: -

*Click* shoot at that guy! *miss* *miss* *miss* you missed! how could you miss he's standing right there?!

I've just now finally got my hands on a lightsaber and I'm not impressed. Me and my squad keep getting killed by a bunch of animals and my character keeps missing them...with a lightsaber...at point blank range!!! I have half a mind to install Jedi Outcast, punch in the dismemberment cheat and show KoTOR what using a lightsaber should be like.

haha i suppose thats the downside of playing a turn-based RPG

[Lookingglassman]

Sounds good. Will the playing area be as large as FO3 and will the game be just as long with many side missions and quests?

[Servo]

Fallout: New Vegas to offer hundreds of hours of exploration; more details

The game will take place at the Las Vegas Strip and surrounding areas in 2280. It is some 200 years after a nuclear holocaust during a war between the U.S. and China. Part of the game’s mystery is figuring out who you are playing. The main character starts the game shot, and left in a shallow grave in the desert and striped of a box he/she was carrying. A trusty robot comes to your aid and takes you to Doc Mitchell, who helps heal you. Throughout the game you’ll unlock the secrets of your character and who was in the box you were carrying at the beginning.

"Unlike the previous Fallouts, where you start in a vault and you are a vault dweller, this one starts with a curveball," explains Pete Hines.

Interesting.