Fallout 3 was initially under development by Black Isle Studios, a studio owned by Interplay Entertainment, under the working title Van Buren. Interplay Entertainment closed down Black Isle Studios before the game could be completed, and the license to develop Fallout 3 was sold for a $1,175,000 minimum guaranteed advance against royalties to Bethesda Softworks, a studio primarily known as the developer of the The Elder Scrolls series.[3] Bethesda's Fallout 3 however, was developed from scratch, using neither Van Buren code, nor any other materials created by Black Isle Studios. In May 2007, a playable technology demo of the canceled project was released to the public.[4]
While Fallout and Fallout 2 feature turn-based combat and top-down isometric view in a 2-D engine, Fallout 3 features real-time combat and first or third person view in a 3-D engine. Fallout Tactics and the canceled Van Buren featured both turn-based and real-time combat and a top-down view.
Perks and Traits have been merged. In Fallout and Fallout 2, Traits were chosen at character creation, and were commonly a combination of a powerful advantage and a potent disadvantage, where Perks were purely advantageous.
In the SPECIAL character system, the number of skills has been reduced from 18 to 13, traits have been removed and perks are selected every level instead of every 3 to 4 levels.
Perks and Traits have been merged. In Fallout and Fallout 2, Traits were chosen at character creation, and were commonly a combination of a powerful advantage and a potent disadvantage, where Perks were purely advantageous.
In the SPECIAL character system, the number of skills has been reduced from 18 to 13, traits have been removed and perks are selected every level instead of every 3 to 4 levels.
Not actually a fat man, which would in its own way be hilarious, the Fat Man is a "shoulder-mounted tactical nuclear catapult." In layman's terms, that means it's a hand held weapon that basically shoots nuclear bombs at people. It should certainly incinerate your target, but do be warned, there's a high possibility it will also incinerate everything around it (including your mates and possibly yourself), as well as leaving residual radiation.
The name comes from the second atomic bomb that was dropped on Japan in 1945. Unsurprisingly, in the game's Japanese release, this had to be changed, with the Fat Man becoming the Nuka Launcher in the Land of the Rising Sun. In Japan, the side quest whereby you can choose to detonate the atomic bomb in the town of Megaton was also removed from the game.
The name comes from the second atomic bomb that was dropped on Japan in 1945. Unsurprisingly, in the game's Japanese release, this had to be changed, with the Fat Man becoming the Nuka Launcher in the Land of the Rising Sun. In Japan, the side quest whereby you can choose to detonate the atomic bomb in the town of Megaton was also removed from the game.
"It's not an action game. It's a role-playing game.", Todd Howard
Todd Howard seems to think so, but then again, Todd seems to think a lot of things. Some of them may even be true. Leaving the obvious question "why did the magazine file Fallout 3 under "action RPG"?" aside, let's take a look at what the presentation of this role-playing game was focused on. For example, how many dialogue screens were shown in those 10 pages? Zero. Wouldn't you think that dialogues are an important Fallout element that the presentation should have mentioned, if not focused on? Apparently not. How many quests were explained in details, showing the design and them moral, game-changing choices? Once again, Bethesda follows the Oblivion formula: focus on the visuals and HAWT AKSHUN, assure people that quests and dialogues are superb and awesome in seven different ways, but show nothing to back up these claims.
Todd Howard seems to think so, but then again, Todd seems to think a lot of things. Some of them may even be true. Leaving the obvious question "why did the magazine file Fallout 3 under "action RPG"?" aside, let's take a look at what the presentation of this role-playing game was focused on. For example, how many dialogue screens were shown in those 10 pages? Zero. Wouldn't you think that dialogues are an important Fallout element that the presentation should have mentioned, if not focused on? Apparently not. How many quests were explained in details, showing the design and them moral, game-changing choices? Once again, Bethesda follows the Oblivion formula: focus on the visuals and HAWT AKSHUN, assure people that quests and dialogues are superb and awesome in seven different ways, but show nothing to back up these claims.
