As you would expect from a Bethesda RPG, Fallout 4 will be heavily moddable, to the extent that the developer is actually bringing fan-made mods to consoles for the first time. However, reators will have to wait a while before getting their hands on the mod tools. Speaking to IGN, Bethesda's Pete Hines confirmed that they won't be available from launch, as the team focuses on getting the core game whipped into shape first.
I distinctly remember trying to create a wise-cracking, fast-talking character in Fallout: New Vegas that could talk his way out of anything, before I ultimately got bored and started whacking people with chainsaws and throwing frag grenades at them. Fallout 4's improved combat will probably also tempt me towards acts of horrifying brutality, but at least this time Bethesda says they're giving less homicidal players a chance to avoid conflict.
Bethesda's open world games take a lot of work and conceptual planning, so it's no surprise to hear that the developer had pegged which area of America it wanted to set Fallout 4 in before the game had even entered development. “Pre-Skyrim," revealed the company's VP of marketing Pete Hines, when asked about the genesis of the game's setting by Gamespot. "The ideas for Fallout 4 started right after Fallout 3 and have gotten worked on and been percolated since 2008… We’re talking about its infancy, we’re talking about jotting some stuff down, we’re talking about, ‘I want to do it in Massachusetts, and have it be about this, this, and this.”
Fallout 4 is just around the corner, and as if you needed more incentive to get excited about returing to the post-apocalyptic wasteland, the mod team behind Fallout: The Frontier has just released a very impressive new trailer for the New Vegas-powered project. The Frontier swaps sun-baked, radioactive deserts for the snows of Portland Oregon, where the NCR and the Legion are locked in a bloody stalemate for control of the city.
At a panel that took place at Quakecon over the weekend, game director Todd Howard revealed that Fallout 4 will contain twelve different companions, of which you'll be able to pick one at a time to accompany you around the game's new and improved radioactive wasteland. Only two have been revealed so far; one is Preston Garvey, the leader of a faction called The Commonwealth of Minutemen, and the other is Piper, an investigative reporter. I had no idea journalism was still a thing in a world where you run the risk of being devoured by a gigantic scorpion every time you nip out to the shops.
QuakeCon 2015 is currently a thing that is happening, and Bethesda has a pretty big presence at the show, with DOOM and Fallout 4 their major talking points. Speaking about the latter, game director Todd Howard shared some insight into the way Bethesda builds their open worlds, from conceptual art to visual effects like lightning and weather effects.
Should you fancy a nostalgic trip through the wastelands before digging into Fallout 4 this November, you might be interested to hear that a Fallout Anthology is planned for release this Fall. Containing every game in the post-apocalytpic franchise's storied history (that's Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics, Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition and Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition), the anthology comes neatly housed inside a Fatman Mini-Nuke, with an extra slot for Fallout 4 also included.
A big part of the Fallout 4 reveal trailer was the glimpse at pre- nuclear blast life, when life was simple and you could step outside without getting lasered into pieces by a multi-limbed robot. That lead some fans to believe that the game would feature intertwining storylines, one set before the bomb and one afterwards. In an interview with The Telegraph, Bethesda's Todd Howard revealed that this isn't actually the case. That pre-bomb segment is simply an introductory scene that sets up the game's story.
As much fun as Bethesda's 2011 fantasy epic Skyrim was, it's impossible to deny that the game contained more than a few bugs. Fortunately, the developer promises that lessons learned during its development will be used to improve the upcoming Fallout 4.
Todd Howard, game director for Fallout 4, says the team is "pretty close to being done" on the development side for the latest RPG. Why did Bethesda wait so long to announce? "...felt like we could," says Howard. The Fallout name gives big momentum already so they took advantage, and also because it's "way more fun" to announce and get to show off the game at the same time.
The Fallout 4 team at Bethesda are pointing to the "phenomenal" sandbox open world of Grand Theft Auto V from Rockstar Games as a major source of inspiration in their pursuit of player freedom in the new RPG. It's that sense of "going anywhere and doing anything" that they try to capture, and GTA V "does it so well." Game director Todd Howard wants Fallout 4 to be saying 'yes' to the player.
Valve's paid mods initiative lasted slightly less time than the lifespan of your average mayfly, but even as it removed them from Steam, the company maintained that there was "a useful idea" in there somewhere. With the news that Fallout 4 mods would be playable on the Xbox One for the first time, some gamers wondered whether Valve would again ask Bethesda to test out the feature.
Game director Todd Howard has said "graphics matter" when it comes to suspending our disbelief, and Bethesda are squeezing the PC, Xbox One and PS4 for everything to make Fallout 4 matter to us. He added that "memory is important" too, allowing for more stuff to cram our view and keep it dynamic as "all of that suspends your disbelief that this is a real world." Howard admitted Fallout 3 could bum you out.
Loveable canine companion Dogmeat has been a big part of Fallout 4's impressive marketing campaign, leading fans to wonder whether he, like his Fallout 3 counterpart, could accidentally hop onto a landmine and be blasted into a thousand chunks of flesh. Don't fret, dog lovers. Despite being pelted with laser-fire, whacked with sledge-hammers by angry super mutants, or caught in miniature nuclear explosions, Dogmeat can never die. He'll remain at your side all through the game, if you want him to.
Bethesda's E3 2015 press conference kicked off the biggest week in video games with a bang yesterday, with the first in-game footage of Fallout 4 and DOOM, as well as the announcement of Dishonored 2. To commemorate a memorable first press conference for the company, Bethesda handed out limited-edition figurines of characters from those three games to attendees. Humans being humans, these figures are now selling on eBay for around $200 to $400.
I'm not really that enthused about expensive limited editions for games, but if you are going to do one, at least follow in Bethesda's footsteps and make a big deal of it. The Fallout 4: Pip-Boy Edition will set you back a not inconsiderable £100/$155, but it comes with an actual, wearable Pip-Boy wrist computer.
As expected, the centrepiece of Bethesda's E3 press conference was the recently revealed Fallout 4, and the company offered up plenty of info on the various ways players will be able to wish away the hours in the irradiated wasteland of Boston. A major focus in the game is crafting and customisation, an element that was present in Fallout 3, but has been drastically expanded in the sequel. As well as modding your weapons and armour, you'll actually be able to build your own little post-apocalyptic haven in the wilderness.
The very first conference kicking off E3 2015 next week is from Bethesda and it's also their very first dedicated showing. They'll be commanding our attention Sunday, June 14th @ 7.00pm PDT, or early Monday June 16th in UK and Europe. It will be live streamed via dark Internet sorcery and we've embedded it for your convenience. They've got some big guns on stage including the recently announced Fallout 4, and the long awaited DOOM sequel.
Dust off those Pipboys because we're going back to the irradiated wasteland as Bethesda has officially announced Fallout 4. As we all suspected they'll be holding a world premiere at their E3 Showcase on June 14th @ 7.00pm PST. This will be live streamed through YouTube and Twitch, so no need to make the pilgrimage to California. Pre-orders have begun for Fallout 4, which is releasing on PC, Xbox One and PS4. Trailer shows in-game footage.
A countdown has sprung up on Bethesda's official web domain for the Fallout series and it's ticking down to 3:00pm GMT+1 tomorrow. This is the highly anticipated announcement of full sequel Fallout 4. The studio is holding their first dedicated press event for E3 this year and it's scheduled for Sunday, June 14th. It's believed a special press demo behind-closed-doors will be held at the California expo.