As part of our PAX coverage and as parft of our next magazine, we have an interview with Tess Treadwell mon the highly anticipated new chapter in the Fallout series, Fallout New Vegas
What is the background and setting for the new material?
Fallout: New Vegas takes place in the Mojave Wasteland, four years after the close of Fallout 3 (about 200 years after the nukes fell in the Great War). The New California Republic is growing in power, expanding east – and butting heads with Caesar’s Legion, a power expanding to the west. This area wasn’t hit by nukes the way the east coast was, and the Strip is still open for business. The strip is run by the mysterious Mr. House. People have jobs, grow crops, and populate small towns, but all is definitely not well.
You play as a courier, en route to deliver a strange package to the strip. Unfortunately, you don’t make your delivery date. Instead, you get shot in the head, left to die and your package stolen by a guy in a checkered suit. Finding him and the package will be your first major objective, one that will take you all the way to the Vegas Strip and beyond.
What are some of the locales gamers will see in the game?
As you traverse the Mojave, you’ll come across places you’d expect, such as small towns, campgrounds, and, of course, Vaults. You will also visit military camps (both NCR and Legion), the town of Primm (complete with roller coaster!), a rocket launch facility, and many more unique locations.
What sort of new enemies will players face?
Right from the start players will encounter a throwback to Fallout 2: Geckos. You’ll find bigger, nastier breeds as you go deeper into the Wasteland. Since you’re in the desert you’ll also encounter wild Coyotes, as well as a horrifying coyote/rattlesnake hybrid known as a Nightstalker. There are also new human enemies, new mutated insects…
As we’ve shown in some demos, there are also the west coast Super Mutants and their stealthy brethren, the mentally unstable Stealthboy-loving Nightkin.
What are some of the weapons we will see and will they change between locales? And can you tell us about how they become customized?
We tried to maintain a pretty good mix of all weapon categories, and hopefully players won’t ever feel neglected for having chosen a certain specialization. You will indeed find different weapons at different locales, and particularly with factions. Caesar’s Legion troops prefer melee weapons like machetes, and the Powder Gangers have a ready supply of explosives to exploit, so don’t be surprised when they lob a bunch of dynamite at you while you hotfoot around their mines.
Weapon customization comes in the form of mods, which you can buy in stores and then equip on weapons. Each weapon mod can affect magazine size, recoil, etc. as well as add functionality such as scopes. You’ll equip mods via a new menu in the Pip-Boy. You can further customize your weapons by equipping ammo subtypes, which you can purchase from vendors.
What can you tell us about the RPG aspect of the game and character creation and how this plays into the overall game? Some of my favorite moments from Fallout 3 were the choices you have to make and the consequences of each action.
We’ve retained all the RPG aspects of Fallout 3 and layered more on top – including the new reputation system for factions (both major and minor) within the game, Character creation lets you edit your appearance and tag skills, which will affect your conversations even if you don’t pick Speech. And, we’ve brought back Traits which adds to long-term character development.
How you treat people, the things you say to them, and the decisions you make will have a significant impact on the world. Some will have immediate effects, others you won’t see how they impact your story until the endgame. It’s not just about things you do. The things you don’t do will also impact the world.
What are some of the biggest obstacles you faced in creating the game and the biggest successes?
We had a few technical challenges. While we’re using a proven engine, we tried to do a lot of things that took it to the limit, and we had to come up with solutions that didn’t make the engine explode but that also didn’t compromise what the designers and artists wanted to accomplish.
I think we succeeded in expanding upon the gameplay of Fallout 3.We made dialogue more complex, and created an interesting new world with really cool, intriguing characters and factions. I think we succeeded in producing a quality title worthy of the Fallout name!
Where do you see the series heading in terms of future chapters? More DLC, an add on, or a new game?
It’s safe to say that there’s DLC slated for the future. We’ll let folks know when we’re ready to talk about what we have planned.
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