Fallout 3 Interview
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GB: You've talked about giving players "second chances" for a lot of choices. Other than game-changers like blowing up Megaton, does this mean the player can diligently move between good/neutral/evil during the course of the game without repercussions? Additionally, can a player leave a faction to join another without consequence, or will the player wind up being alienated by either faction? Gavin: The player is not locked into any course of action, so a good player can commit an evil act whenever they choose, or vice versa. It is up to the player to decide how their characters would react to certain situations. Each individual good, evil, or neutral decision can carry its own rewards or consequences. These all add into your karma level, which is an overall value that can also affect people's reactions.
There's no Oblivion-like factions in Fallout 3 that the player can join. The player is free to take quests and tasks from anyone they choose, though many choices (blowing up Megaton for instance) can cause repercussions down the line, locking you out of certain quests or rewards, while opening ones you may not have been able to obtain otherwise.
GB: Two of Oblivion's most commonly criticized graphical elements are the somewhat stiff character animations and the facial modelling. What have you done to improve these particular elements in Fallout 3?
Gavin: While Oblivion was 100% hand-animated, we've been working on Fallout to mix in more motion-captured animations for more natural motion. For faces, we've managed to find ways to make the system more efficient, enabling us to give people more polys and higher texture resolution on their faces. We've also created an entirely separate base head for females so that we can build in more feminine features from the start.
GB: You ended up releasing a total of nine pieces of downloadable content for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Are you planning to release a similar number for Fallout 3? Can we expect to see DLC that adds entirely new quest lines and environments like we saw in Knights of the Nine, or will you be shooting for smaller cosmetic additions similar to what you gave us in Spell Tomes?
Gavin: For Fallout 3 DLC, we'd like to go the Knights of the Nine route. That is to say, we want to provide larger packages of content with a wider variety of new content, such as quests and gameplay areas. I can't commit to any particular number right now. We'll talk more about them as time goes on.
GB: As I'm sure you're very much aware, it's widely believed that Interplay is currently working on Fallout Online. Have you had any type of discussion with them on the direction they're taking the game? Assuming the game eventually makes it to release, how does a Fallout MMO affect your plans for the franchise?
Gavin: We've had our hands full working on Fallout 3. I don't have anything to do with that stuff.
GB: Is there anything new to report on the status of a Fallout 3 construction kit? Assuming one will eventually be released, are we looking at days, weeks, or months following the game's release before it might be available for download?
Gavin: Nothing to report yet.
Thanks for your time, Gavin!
