[(G-yen)]

I'm not sure if this has already been linked, but Kateri linked me on Twitter to a http://forums.obsidian.net/index.php?act=module&module=blog&req=showblog&blogid=1 by Chris Avellone in which he set out his approach to character direction. Since to me the characters were the most memorable and intriguing aspects the KOTOR universe, I think "meeting the people" is the one thing I'm most looking forward to in New Vegas.

If you enjoyed reading that, you might find http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kEV_YnDkXk&feature=related#t=1m06s

[Rob Davidson]

Remember Tycho? He was a Npc that came from Nevada. Tycho's grandfather was a Desert Ranger (the Desert Rangers are a reference to Wasteland, a 1980s game which is considered to be Fallout's predecessor. Tycho also makes a mentions the "fat freak" from Las Vegas, which is a reference to Fat Freddy from Wasteland. I think a antagonist based about "Fat Freddy" would be appropriate.
A better Idea being Las Vegas and all would be one of the Mobster Families from New Reno taking over Las Vegas. I go for the wright Family. In fallout 2 you can help them take control over a pre-war storge facility of weapons and more (biological weapons). So having them be the bad guys for New Vegas would be awesome. They could have moved in and killed off Fat Freddy and now have a mini empire from New Reno to New Vegas with an army of mercenaries armed with pre-war mint weapons and biological weapons. That would be awesome! Who's with me?

[Jordan Moreno]

Well it would be a step up from Inon Zur.

Zur's soundtrack for Fallout 3 was perfect IMO.

[Chris Jones]

I like Fallout 3's music. It's perfect for the game's setting. Ilike GNR as well.

Thank you.

[Keeley Stevens]

I just thought of a New Perk or Skill that they could add to Fallout New Vegas. I call it the taxidermy Skill/perk. It gives you the skill of being an expert taxidermist, allowing you the ability to Take the heads of your kills: animal, Mutant or Human and Mount them on your wall. It could also give you the ability to have them stuffed and Mounted in your place.

Having a bigger place would be cool to.

[Susan]

I just thought of a New Perk or Skill that they could add to Fallout New Vegas. I call it the taxidermy Skill/perk. It gives you the skill of being an expert taxidermist, allowing you the ability to Take the heads of your kills: animal, Mutant or Human and Mount them on your wall. It could also give you the ability to have them stuffed and Mounted in your place.

Having a bigger place would be cool to.

It wouldn't be that easy to implement, though - well, it would be script-intensive, and they'd have to make a new model for each wall-plaque. I can say right off that the human bit would not happen, due to the infinite variety of faces in the game.

One way you could do it - or a modder could do it if they were also a model-maker - would be to have it as a standalone quest like the bobblehead quest where you collect one item from each type of creature and have a display area for your trophies. It was successfully implemented in the main hall of the Fighters Stronghold DLC for Oblivion.

[Javaun Thompson]

I think, besides the typically mentioned and requested; I think that FO:NV should include some sort of musical skill or something along those lines. Where if we wanted, we could add music of our own making or others that we like. And not only would it be that we listen to it, but we could also have our character play it. So for example, our character could get a Guitar (make one or find one out in the wasteland,) and play music for people. Kinda like a Bard, but more modern. Kinda like a street performer but with a Combat Shotgun hidden away in his other guitar case.

Actually, yeah - I think something like that would be cool. Sort of made me think of the movie Six-String Samurai, where it just so happens they're travelling to Vegas, as well. I could see a travelling sort of minstrel or bard being a concievable occupation in the Wasteland, as well. Not sure exactly how it would work out in terms of game mechanics and usefulness, but I think it might be a neat thing to see; if done well.

[BethanyRhain]

How is it possible that this game is coming out this year and we haven't heard word one? Can someone please explain this to me?

[Alisha Clarke]

How is it possible that this game is coming out this year and we haven't heard word one? Can someone please explain this to me?

It could be because:

1. Game companies have been doing this awhile and are very good at keeping secrets (better than the Government in fact).

2. There are some really big bouncers at Obsidian keep the employees locked inside until the game is released.

3. The secret police quietly arrest and detain anyone with foreknowledge of the game, prior to its release.

4. The game developers do heavy drugs, and are loaded-up with soda and twinkies to keep them going until the game is complete.

5. Some version of "All of the above".

:)

The reasons are complex, but bear in mind that its not just one person doing this, its an entire team of folks - and Obsidian announced a while ago that they were putting more troops into the fight. So don't count them out, but don't believe the rumors either - nothing is true until release day.

[willow]

Apparently that guy who made the OOO mod has been hired by Obsidian.

I have recently found out that Jorge "Oscuro" Salgado, the modder that some of you might know for his award-winning Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul mod that completely rebalances The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion gameplay (especially the level scaling system), joined Obsidian Entertainment by the end of last year. His in-depth knowledge of Bethesda's engine and editor will likely be a good asset for overhauling the Fallout 3 gameplay in Fallout: New Vegas as well.

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Ausir/Acclaimed_Oblivion_modder_working_on_Fallout:_New_Vegas

[Blessed DIVA]

That's good news. Seeing as how he made Oblivion so much better than the original, he seems to have a view on how to make things right. And one witty brain more is always a good thing even if not necesserely needed.




(then again, I have no clue what his job will be at Obs.)

[Paula Rose]

Fantastic news.

I really wish they would announce these things - its such a feel-good story to see a modder graduate into the big-leages, its at least worth a post somewhere! A whole lot of people will be much more excited about NV if they know he is working on it - seems like an obvious PR win.

[I’m my own]

5. Some version of "All of the above".

Word.

Fantastic news.

I really wish they would announce these things - its such a feel-good story to see a modder graduate into the big-leages, its at least worth a post somewhere! A whole lot of people will be much more excited about NV if they know he is working on it - seems like an obvious PR win.

Wordier :hehe:

[YO MAma]

Apparently that guy who made the OOO mod has been hired by Obsidian.

He should have been hired by Bethesda, IMO. He does very good work.

[Melly Angelic]

I really wish they would announce these things - its such a feel-good story to see a modder graduate into the big-leages, its at least worth a post somewhere! A whole lot of people will be much more excited about NV if they know he is working on it - seems like an obvious PR win.

This is something I tell pretty much everyone who comes to me asking about how to break into the industry; work on mods. Aside from being a tangible example of related work experience, it shows that you are passionate about working on games, that you're a motivated self-starter, a team player, etc. It's also a great way to show what you're capable of.

[Penny Courture]

This is something I tell pretty much everyone who comes to me asking about how to break into the industry; work on mods. Aside from being a tangible example of related work experience, it shows that you are passionate about working on games, that you're a motivated self-starter, a team player, etc. It's also a great way to show what you're capable of.

That great to hear actually. Its one thing to presume or hope that any of this matters, and quite another to hear that it can..

Cheers!

[Sami Blackburn]

This is something I tell pretty much everyone who comes to me asking about how to break into the industry; work on mods. Aside from being a tangible example of related work experience, it shows that you are passionate about working on games, that you're a motivated self-starter, a team player, etc. It's also a great way to show what you're capable of.

Another Obsidian's employee here... wonder who it is :shifty:

About the news, it's always good that's someone with a work experience on systems balance and the Oblivion engine is in the employ of Obsidian when they are working on Fallout : New Vegas. It can only be an asset, wonder what role he would play on the team though...

[mike]

Another Obsidian's employee here... wonder who it is :shifty:

http://forums.obsidian.net/index.php?showuser=25140l, Associate Producer on F:NV

[Ron]

This is something I tell pretty much everyone who comes to me asking about how to break into the industry; work on mods. Aside from being a tangible example of related work experience, it shows that you are passionate about working on games, that you're a motivated self-starter, a team player, etc. It's also a great way to show what you're capable of.

What about writing? Any special requirements for writing for games?

I'd be more excited by hearing of people breaking into the industry by demonstrating their ability to create characters and environments through writing.

[Portions]

I want to see Gambling, six and other human vices like there was in New Reno. Bethesda needs to have Gambling, six and other human vices in there games like just like the way Black Isle fallouts had it. If New Vegas has no gambling then I will be crazy mad with Bethesda. Bethesda can have six the way the other fallouts had it! Please look at the last fallouts, better yet Play the other fallouts and see!

[Angela Woods]

The Most Successful & Respected EP in the industry is...

After all of the votes were tallied the winner of TS2’s “Most Successful & Respected Executive Producer” in the industry is Feargus Urquhart!!

"It's a great honor to be voted in as the Most Successful EP in the industry. It shows that even when you start as a play tester, you can get far in our industry - something that makes me happy to have this been my career for more than eighteen years." -Feargus

Apparently Obsidian's CEO is teh best b0ss evar!!1

Congrats Feargus.

http://www.ts2recruit.com/successstory-details.aspx?testimonial_id=21

[Ridhwan Hemsome]

I've been thinking a lot about game writing, and writing in general lately. Seems to me that the flow of writing is very different. In game writing, you have to sort of use pseudo branching...give folks options that appear to be substantial, but in the end, all threads meet, sort of like air flowing around a ball. In traditional writing, the author makes the decisions. When my story character reaches a fork in the road, I, as the author, choose which fork to take. A game writer must provide the opportunity of choice.

If you take a peice of paper, and draw a vector (or flowchart) diagram of decision points for a game like Fallout, it won't take you very long to realize that each decision can increase, and an exponential rate, separate lines of story, which can't really be maintained for very long.

There's also style to consider. A game story is more like a screenplay, I think. I believe that a game should tell the story graphically, and only use traditional storytelling when required. A traditional author could spend several paragraphs painting a picture of a skeleton in a bathtub, pistol nearby, old bloodstain on the wall, and that description would still be less powerful then opening a door in game and seeing it.

[JUDY FIGHTS]

What about writing? Any special requirements for writing for games?

I'd be more excited by hearing of people breaking into the industry by demonstrating their ability to create characters and environments through writing.

I've been thinkin about that for quite some time myself, as in, contemplating about how that would happen. I think, as Kjarista said, being a good writer and being a good game writer are entirely different things. You have a million factors to consider, from the blank-slate character, to NPCs (and a story) that can respond to that blank-slate character. Dragon Age Origins comes to mind in delivering perfectly natural (and rarely quirky) dialog to a character who can have one of six different origins. It is not so much about creating a story anymore, it is about creating a consistent story arc that can serve a host of different player character archetypes which still makes sense. I don't think one can prove they are good writers in that sense, unless maybe it's a super-linear third person shooter game.

Shame that people don't care about stories and storywriting (scriptwriting) in videogames though, I've always hated that starting more than ten years ago when I picked up FO1. Emptying bullets into some enemies draw people much more. You know, I'm talkin about the people who skip all dialog in Fo3 for example. What is so great about entering several button combinations without a purpose or an intellectual draw anyway? .. /sigh

[jasminε]

Apparently Obsidian's CEO is teh best b0ss evar!!1

Congrats Feargus.

http://www.ts2recruit.com/successstory-details.aspx?testimonial_id=21

I'm happy for them - to have good Sr. Management up top is So important for a company, good news indeed!

Perhaps he won in part because he is whipping the staff Extra-hard on NV. :toughninja:

[Javier Borjas]

Must be nice have a boss who was a designer on Fallout 1 and the producer of Fallout 2.

I just realized, the schedule for New Vegas is about the same as it was Fallout 2 (~18mo). This both pleases and worries me.