Fallout 3 Interview

[GameBanshee News]

GamersGlobal has posted an interview with Pete Hines, offering some pretty interesting questions and detailed answers.

GamersGlobal: Is it right that some locations are the equivalent of the “random dungeons” of Oblivion?

Pete Hines: Sure. First, there’s just random encounters that you find in the world. You’re walking along and there’s an elementary school that’s been taken over by raiders and that’s kind of a “random dungeon” type thing, although of course it’s not a dungeon. There’s a building and it’s occupied by someone, some creatures or NPCs or whatever it is, you discover what’s it about, and sometimes there’s a little sidestory to it, like in the Elementary School. In that instance, you find out that there’s more behind it than just some raiders. And it is stuff like that you can find in the world, that adds to the overall flavor. It’s off the beaten path and you might never find it, but when you’ve done it you have done something unique and cool.

GamersGlobal: So if I empty that Elementary School of raiders, and if I come back later: Will they have respawned?

Pete Hines: I’m not sure about that particular location. But there are some places in the world where creatures will respawn, and some where they don’t. It’s a matter of balance. We definitely do not want you go through an area and when you come back, it’s completely devoid of life. But we don’t want to have the opposite either, so the respawning is definitely not a 10-minute-cycle. If a place respawns, you would not find it repopulated before some time has passed.