[Nymph]

At a London press event today, Bethesda announced Obsidian is developing a new Fallout game, titled Fallout: New Vegas. To learn more about the title, check out press coverage at the following links:

http://www.vg247.com/2009/04/20/rumour-fallout-new-vegas-announced-in-london%5dVG247%5b/url%5d%5burl="http://kotaku.com/5219584/new-fallout-announced
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23276
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/20/fallout-new-vegas-coming-to-consoles-next-year/
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6208186.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=topstory&tag=topstory;title
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/fallout-new-vegas-unveiled
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/58229
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3173826

When we have more details on the game, we'll let you know.

Update: Shacknews has a http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=1113 where he discusses, among other things, Fallout: New Vegas.

For the moment we'll be keeping all discussion of Fallout: New Vegas in this thread. You can use this to discuss what we know and what you'd like to see, as well as any new information when it becomes available. Ausir has put up a http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout:_New_Vegas_FAQ on the Vault and will try and keep an up-to-date run down of what's been released, although please remember that this is not an official FAQ.


Previous Threads

http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=980972
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=981122
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=981370
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=982132
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=984328
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=987204
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=995124
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1006730
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1018001
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1038297
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1045768

[Dan Scott]

I wouldn't call Obsidian amateur team, many of the guys there, created such classics as Fallout 1 & 2, Icewind Dale series , Planescape Torment and they helped in the creation of Baldur's Gate. The problem with KOTOR2 and NWN2 was the fact the Obsidian was a quite new studio, and publishers could do whatever they want with them, like Lucas Arts, that forced them to finish production of Kotor2 two months prior to release date.

Now they aren't newcomers anymore and I have pretty good expectations for the game. Also Sawyer is well known for great contact with community, what we can even see in this thread, he was also lead designer on beloved by fallout community Van Buren. Beside Sawyer it would be great if Chriss Avellone would also work on this game, but he's busy with Alpha Protocol right now.

[Marguerite Dabrin]

NWN2 was built on the NWN1 engine, and look what happened.

So were the following games:

The Witcher
Kotor 1
Kotor 2
Jade Empire
Dragon Age

it's not like I have any choice

You do actually, vote with your $. Don't like it, don't buy it.

[Farrah Barry]

NWN2 was built on the NWN1 engine, and look what happened. Look, I'll cede that Obsidian may get it right with New Vegas, it's not like I have any choice, and I did like what they did with KOTOR2, but don't try to sell me on NWN2. That game was a total dud, and as far as I'm concerned Obsidian needs to redeem themselves with me. I don't care if everyone else is blindly adherent to whoever is on the job, I'm scrutinizing their work on Fallout.

I'm not trying to sell you on anything; you were just stating everything so matter of factually when whether or not you like NWN 2 is purely subjective. Of course a lot of folks didn't like NWN 2, but a lot of folks didn't like NWN 1 either. I'm just pointing out that a lot of people would disagree with your stance on NWN having better "characters" (and a better campaign). I'm not going to go into detail though because this isn't General NWN 1 or NWN 2 discussion.

Obsidian isn't by any means perfect; I have my own problems with their products, but it's silly to act like they could potentially ruin Fallout because as nu_clear day pointed out... what can they do that Bethesda hasn't already done? In case you didn't notice Fallout 3 doesn't resemble the first two games at all; To many older Fallout fans Bethesda already ruined the series.

[kirsty joanne hines]

in case you didn't notice Fallout 3 doesn't resemble the first two games at all;

And not just that... but also, if you take out the setting and skill-system and focus on the general cRPG-design philosophy, NWN2 resembles the first two Fallouts more than FO3 does!

[Nick Swan]

Why is everybody so worried about Obsidian ruining this? I admit, I have my concerns, but Bethesda is working with Obsidian on this, and if Obsidian did anything radically different than Fallout 3 did, Bethesda would stop them. It's as simple as that.

[Johanna Van Drunick]

if Obsidian did anything radically different than Fallout 3 did, Bethesda would stop them. It's as simple as that.

Yes, that does worry me a little

[Tessa Mullins]

if Obsidian did anything radically different than Fallout 3 did, Bethesda would stop them.

That depends on how free hands Bethesda has given to Obsidian. But I doubt the game will be much different gameplaywise (1st/3rd person free roaming), the rulesystem may (should) get some attention.

[BEl J]

That depends on how free hands Bethesda has given to Obsidian. But I doubt the game will be much different gameplaywise (1st/3rd person free roaming), the rulesystem may (should) get some attention.

I'm personally expecting nothing more than Fallout 3 set in Las Vegas, with a new story. And I don't think that assumption is too far off. I would like to see some things fixed, and hopefully they will be addressed, but I don't think we'll be seeing anything really new and unexpected in this game. Which, honestly, makes me happy. Of course, people who don't like what Beth did with Fallout 3 wont be happy, but as a Bethesda fan, I'm fine with it.

[Bedford White]

Yeah, I don't think this is going to be such a grand departure from Fallout 3, here (and there's not necessarily any reason it should be, either.) Maybe some minor tweaks or something, but we'll have to see. (I'd like to think it might be possible to fix the whole level cap/ skill cap problem, at least.) But anyway, there's nothing Obsidian can do to "ruin" the franchise. Even disregarding that it's not like there's any longer any real cohesion to the franchise as a whole (considering that over the entire run of the series, there's only ever been two games together that had any real resemblance to each other,) the absolute worst-case scenario here is going to be a game you don't like.

If, at the last minute, they were to change the name to "Fallout 4," it were to be unanimously panned as the worst game made since ET, and left everyone at Bethesda so disheartened that they never wanted to do anything involving Fallout again - then maybe perhaps it could ruin the franchise. But anything beyond that, and I think we're going to be safe. If it ends up being a game someone doesn't like, then it's just going to be yet another game you don't end up playing - that's going to be a pretty long list no matter who you are, anyway.

[Charlie Ramsden]

this lack of news for fallout new vegas makes me a sad panda. im sick of the speculation atleast release some concept art or something!

[Alyesha Neufeld]

In case you didn't notice Fallout 3 doesn't resemble the first two games at all

The man said that, as a D&D game, Neverwinter Nights 2 should have been about free adventures with a DM, like Neverwinter Nights. He's obviously never played a Baldur's Gate game, he doesn't seem to even know about it; don't expect him to have played or know about a Fallout game older than Fallout 3, except that there is a Fallout 1 and a Fallout 2 because if not, it would be Fallout, not Fallout 3.

The only way Obsidian can "ruin" anything is through technical issues and too big ambitions. And this shouldn't be a problem, as I think Bethesda will be able to help them with the Gamebryo engine a lot more than what Bioware could do for the Aurora engine, and they've learned about keeping their ambitions in check since KOTOR 2 and NWN 2. Avelone admitted one of his mistake on KOTOR 2 was to give at least as much "visible" content as in the first game, while one or two less planets with a more focused storyline would have been a better choice.

As far as gameplay is concerned, they're all good for me. They re-introduced the party in NWN 2, something I will always be grateful for, since the OC in NWN reminded me more of Diablo because of that [censored] glued-to-the-character camera (I still quite don't understand why we have to deal with that... THING in Dragon Age)! Characters were better written (Ammon Jerro is like having their Revan in your party), and the plot more interesting. Mask of the Betrayer introduced the Strategy mode for the camera, which definitely get rid of the glued-to-the-character camera. And of course, the characters in that one were excellent. Not to mention it introduced the perks based on influence on the companions, something I'm expecting to see in New Vegas.

Maybe some minor tweaks or something, but we'll have to see.

I'm expecting strong modifications in the reputation system, that's almost the most frequent features in all of Obsidian's games, modified and enhanced with every game.

[Steve Smith]

this lack of news for fallout new vegas makes me a sad panda. im sick of the speculation atleast release some concept art or something!

JE Sawyer leaves hints on his twitter.

Vague ones mind...

[Phillip Hamilton]

JE Sawyer leaves hints on his twitter.

Vague ones mind...

Give me a link to it...Please

[Luis Reyma]

Give me a link to it...Please

http://twitter.com/jesawyer

I don't see any hints there myself, unless of course New Vegas is going to have a turtle racing game

[Miragel Ginza]

Does anyone know when this game is being released?

[Sammygirl500]

Does anyone know when this game is being released?

All we know is that it should be coming out in 2010. If it does, I'm fairly certain it will come out around the holidays.

[Zualett]

I don't see any hints there myself, unless of course New Vegas is going to have a turtle racing game

The only thing I saw that could be related to New Vegas is the part about the build and the baby... I do know that some people in computer engineering use todlers for debugging, but I doubt that was the case here <_<

[Elena Alina]

I'm actually glad they don't release much. It would probably be selected works made out too look AWESOME. And then, upon release, we'd all be let down.

But I don't really think this'll be a let down. I loved FO1 and 2. But I'm not one of the grouchy ones that hate FO3 and think Beth ruined the series. Yes, they altered it, and they did it in their own way. I don't mind it, I love Fallout 3 just as much. I don't think New Vegas will be a disappointment. A lot of great names are working on it.

Oh, and for reference, I hated BoS, and I just barely liked Tactics.

[JR Cash]

That depends on how free hands Bethesda has given to Obsidian. But I doubt the game will be much different gameplaywise (1st/3rd person free roaming), the rulesystem may (should) get some attention.

From my understanding Obsidian is using the Fallout 3 engine as a base for their game so while some things make be modified or tweaked the core gameplay will be pretty much the same.

this lack of news for fallout new vegas makes me a sad panda. im sick of the speculation atleast release some concept art or something!

Bethesda doesn't tend to release much information during early developement. Take their current project as an example, Fallout 3 has been out for over a year and chances are good they started pre-production well before then and we don't even have a title. As with Fallout 3 I wouldn't expect any real information until they're ready to fully unveil the game.

[lisa nuttall]

I'm not trying to sell you on anything; you were just stating everything so matter of factually when whether or not you like NWN 2 is purely subjective. Of course a lot of folks didn't like NWN 2, but a lot of folks didn't like NWN 1 either. I'm just pointing out that a lot of people would disagree with your stance on NWN having better "characters" (and a better campaign). I'm not going to go into detail though because this isn't General NWN 1 or NWN 2 discussion.

Obsidian isn't by any means perfect; I have my own problems with their products, but it's silly to act like they could potentially ruin Fallout because as nu_clear day pointed out... what can they do that Bethesda hasn't already done? In case you didn't notice Fallout 3 doesn't resemble the first two games at all; To many older Fallout fans Bethesda already ruined the series.

You're right, there are people that liked NWN2, and my opinion is my own. Objective truth however is that according to data, people generally preferred the original NWN to the sequel, so while my own opinion is of course subjective, the fact that there is evidence that others feel the same way is objective truth.

I'm sure there are people that feel that Fallout was "ruined", I'm not one of those people but I don't dispute they exist. Unlike the NWN scenario however, Fallout 3 has one of the highest average game ratings ever. So...There's that. I could imagine a myriad of ways Obsidian could make Fallout worse, the first one being linearity. I won't go into the others, but I shouldn't need to.

[noa zarfati]

It is supposed to be the same base engine, but with a different setting (Vegas). As such I expect FO3.1 basically. The same game with different setting and maybe they teach the game engine a new trick or two, or maybe build some complex scripting for something different but really its going to be the same game different place.

That isn't a bad thing for me though. I like Fallout 3.

[trisha punch]

I could imagine a myriad of ways Obsidian could make Fallout worse, the first one being linearity. I won't go into the others, but I shouldn't need to.

But... there's almost no way that Obsidian could make Fallout worse. I don't mean that as "Fallout 3 is already as bad as it could possibly get, so no amount of further damage is going to make any difference," either. It's just simply this:

New Vegas might potentially be a "worse" game than Fallout 3. It could very well end up lacking in some key areas, for any number of reasons. That does only one thing, however - it makes New Vegas "not as good" as another game. Whatever the end result is, it won't affect how people view the rest of the games in the series. If you loved Fallout 3, no concievable lack of quality on the part of Obsidian could possibly take that away - and it's pretty much a done deal at this point that Bethesda will end up making a Fallout 4, either way.

Subjectively, Fallout as a whole; and the individual games that make up the franchise, are either "good" or "bad" (or somewhere in between, of course.) No combination of games has an affect on the quality of any one of those games (or the series as a whole) to stand on it's own merit.

Here's another example: To say Star Wars is a pretty popular franchise would be an understatement. A lot of people were very dissapointed with the prequel movies, however (myself included, if I'm being honest.) And while there's been some really good videogame tie-ins, there's also been some really big flops in that area, as well. And in pretty much every other medium in which the franchise has branched out. There's some pretty bad Star Wars novels out there, for instance. But regardless of any of that, of the shortcomings of any myriad tie-ins and spin-offs, Star Wars remains pretty darned awesome.

You simply can't "ruin" or "make worse" a franchise by a few small mis-steps. The worst-case scenario here, is that you (presumably) really want to play another really good Fallout game without having to wait Bethesda to put out Fallout 4 (which might take a number of years, here,) and New Vegas might not fulfill that need. But that's it.

[Leah]

It's like how people say "a certain game svcked, so I'm never buying their games again". Lol.

[Darlene DIllow]

Objective truth however is that according to data, people generally preferred the original NWN to the sequel, so while my own opinion is of course subjective, the fact that there is evidence that others feel the same way is objective truth.

The objective truth is that Neverwinter Nights was more highly rated overall. But another objective truth is that the OC in NWN 2 is way better that the OC in NWN. NWN was bland on that area, a kinf of Diablo clone that doesn't say its name. Characters were uninteresting, the quests rare and boring, the camera terrible and the gameplay a big disappointment after Baldur's Gate 2. NWN was good because of the toolset, not the campaigns.