Greets.

Just to speak my mind (I know these are very early screenies) - NO CUTE FACTOR! War is NOT a cute "stylized" thing. NO artistic licenses please!



Links are: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Ausir/First_Project_V13_screenshots

That mutant looks like a cuddly bear. Do NOT make this mistake - playerbase will evaporate fast - since the community is a "cult" following - you have to meet and exeed expectations!

The tiny sprite-mutants in the isometric FO scared the heck out of me! Lets see this world in its full 3D gritty dirty and horrific dark glory!

Make us quiver with FEAR!

NO CUTE MUTANTS ALLOWED!
Wastelander since C=64!

Awaiting Alpha/Beta testing!

No need to freak out. This is probably a very early build of the game, and the mutants are sure to get a heck lot of uglier when we get to see it .

Here's hoping for a Beatles-themed quest on V13.

Ill be honest the envoirment looks pretty good so far. Especially when you consider its an alpha product right now.

I just hope they dont do F3 raiders.... you know the raiders who live with corpses and have blood all over the place... that just look weird. I want f1-f2 raiders wich are a organized gang that do kill people and stuff but the ain't stringing dead people up on chains for decoration >.<

And I also want the f1-f2-FoT mutants, those are the real ones.


lols, it looks like he is crying if you look closely at his face >.< But anyway, I'm not that intimidated by him, I never where when playing f3.


Now this old sprite mutant looks like he's ready to bang some heads (well its hard to see details >,> but he looks badass anyway)

I don't know if its the color of the f3 mutants that make them huggable or something but I'm not intimidated by them, not nearly as I was with the old f1-f2-FoT mutants (or it might be becouse in f3 you can kill super mutants with a 10mm pistol >.>)

well now that I think about it, the f3 mutants where kinda good but the mainreason I werent intimidated by them probably was becouse they where so increadibly easy to kill...

(AGAIN SORRY FOR NAMING ANOTHER GAME IN THIS FORUM!)

I know its alpha - but if we dont voice it now - they will say its too late to fix later on!

The environment looks too crisp and clean - 300 years of dust, debris, and neglect needs a lot more details (and yes, I know the details are probably turned off or not layered on yet) - but it is required element.

What I also see is SW:TOR world - a stylized "steampunk" colorful snazzy feel to it. Now I wont mind that so much, if they can make it have a "darker" atmosphere - not just colors or lighting - but the look and feel of it. The idea is not to be another "me too" funky color-rich world - but something where you can smell the rot and taste the sand in your mouth - and the "mood" should be of "how am I going to survive this journey to Needles?"!!!!

Combat should NOT ( and I repeat NOT! NOT! NOT!) target locked and button mashing. (ie every other MMO on the planet - 1,2,3, cooldown, 1,2 3, cooldown.....). It'd be amazing if we could have a real Tactical element to it - like HOMM series or FO series. Where someone in group is bleeding, and 2 are passed out - and I have the option of continuing with attack, aid the bleeder, or revive one of the passed out ones, or retreat, or heal myself!! Come on gamesas - make us proud!

* Atlantica Online already implements a tactical and turn-based combat system - so no reason why FO cannot do something similar.

* DDO has a brilliant combat where nearly EVERYTHING can be dodged (from spells, to missiles, to melee) - that would also breathe new life to stagnation of MMOs.

* Line of Sight combat = usage of environment, debris, bottlenecking, to defeat enemies = more tactical moves.

* Destructable terrain (or illusion of) would be fantastic: Need a door? RPG the wall!

* Sneaking and low level lighting (night time) adds to thrill of combat

* Bring back mines + detect + disarm skills.

* In Wasteland, when we came up to a locked door, there were sooooo.. many ways to open it: Use STR (attribute), Use Sledgehammer, Use Crowbar, Use Plastics, Use Rocket Launcher, Picklock, Knock on Door, etc..... yes, this is way back on the old Commie 64! No one uses indepth programming anymore.

Come on guys... lets make this baby shine. Let's show them we're not another "me too" sad clone. If you DONT deviate from industry "norms" then there is NO reason why anyone would sub to this game - since it will be "been there, done that *yawn*". The "name" of the IP will only keep us there thru the initial "honeymoon" period before we jump ship. (Examples of that are: Conan, and STO (a dishonor to R.E.H & Gene Roddenberry)).

Regards.
Wastelander since C=64!

Awaiting Alpha/Beta testing!

I will have to agree with you on that. I doubt the game will get released looking like it does right now. I’m sure the environment details will come later on and it will look darker and bleaker as they get further into development.

The problem with F3 is that the Mutants were all IDENTICAL.

hmm I think I have to agree on the identical thing, It was sad that there wasn't even a single true super mutant boss

Atleast they could have done randomized faces for the muties I hope gamesas does so atleast. Becouse it just looks stupid when everyone looks exactly the same >.<

I'd like to point out those weren't even "alpha" screens, just "Proof of Concept".

The current models look different. We still want a somewhat stylized look so we can avoid the "Uncanny Valley".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley

pax,
-Chris

That's even better! I guess that when you do Proof of concept, graphics and models are placeholders and will look better for the final game, right?

Here's hoping for a Beatles-themed quest on V13.

Yeah, thats the reason most games shy away from realism. HOWEVER....!!!! That might work in your favor if you try that with Ghouls and Super Mutants!!! The scary uncanny zombieness will cause more revulsion!!!
Wastelander since C=64!

Awaiting Alpha/Beta testing!

Yes, proof of concept artwork is usually (and is, in our case) placeholder.

Masthead has sent us new artwork and it is far superior to the proof of concept, and I liked the POC (recognizing that it was just POC and very early) so I'm very happy.

Sooo... when do we see it?
Wastelander since C=64!

Awaiting Alpha/Beta testing!

I know its alpha - but if we dont voice it now - they will say its too late to fix later on!


Considering the game HASN'T been in development for the last 3 or 4 years.

I actually like where the visuals are heading if the proof of concept is any indication. However, one thing i'm hoping for is that same kind of saturation, harshness, and contrast that the FO1 and FO2 palettes had.

I don't know how to explain this, but I could almost feel the heat of sun and the wasteland in those games.

I also agree with the poster who found it odd that raiders would be living with rotting corpses all over the wall. Even cannibals, mutans or raiders, would take better care of their food and protect from getting spoiled. The occasional skull or two on a post is more believable.

I'm not going to be too quick to criticize their development here. But I will have to disagree with the original poster.

The game cannot be hard on the eyes. Too many times this newer generation of "war" games try to be gritty and dirty. What happens is they all end up being the same dull brownish sand color. It becomes hard to differentiate one game from the next. Not to mention how tired the eyes get after an hour or so of playing.

You gotta think, this is an MMORPG. That means having to spend some time to play the game. You can't have it be dark and ugly the entire time.

I do agree that the mutants need variation. Fallout3 got real dull after a while with the mutants.

So long as V13 doesn't make the same jam-players-in-a-shoe-box feel that Star Trek Online has with its instance based organization I think that it will be okay.

I hate to compare to World of Warcraft but you do have to acknowledge some of the things they did right. This doesn't have to mean you're making the doomed WoW killer or a WoW clone. But the game should not try to be the AntiWoW and refuse to adopt any of the concepts that Blizzard got right. Player immersion into the world aspect.... WoW got it right because the world has to have an open feel with seemless transition from one region/zone to the next. The only time a player will see any kind of loading screen is when entering/leaving a dungeon or moving from one continent to the next.

Where WoW is left behind is the inability to update the graphics as time goes on. Their stylized everything approach is a strength but it is also the weakness. Anyone that has logged in lately will see how everything looks cheap and dull. Wrath of the Lich King seems to be a product of the lazy approach to their stylized world.

MMOs that have failed either got the content wrong or got the world wrong. While every MMO will have the grind (ie collect 12 skulls of npc name or kill 50 npcs) it is important to have enough content that the player can work towards. Faction reputation is a must with better rewards as it goes on. WoW is failing by only providing one avenue for players to get gear: the dungeon grind or the pvp grind. You'll either get gear that's only good for PVE or gear thats only good for PVP. Hopefully V13 will get rid of that. Gear should effect everything the same. That way you can mix and match and set your character up however YOU want instead of however the rules of the game tell you. Weapons should give Attack Power bonuses. Armor should give Defensive bonuses. Different armor is good against certain kinds of weapons be they energy or projectile based.

Simply put, the game has to have something for everyone. From professions that can be used to sell specific services to an Auction house that users can not only make money but engage in a barter system as well.

But on a basic level, graphics can make or break the game. Player avatars have to appear alive with small movements... turning heads breathing.. scratching... stretching... everything that you see people do in real life. And while overstylizing the game can get boring as in wow, it is important that the game also has its own look so that everything fits together instead of seeming like a bunch of junk randomly placed around as it appears to be in warhammer, STO and Guild Wars.

In a post apocalyptic world you're going to have a lot of broken down buildings and dirt and grime. But it is important for every zone not to look the same as the last. A post apocalyptic world is not going to be completely devoid of all plant life. If there are animals, humans, and mutants, then there should be some vegetation as well. Mutated plants and what not. And while I agree that a super mutant should not be cute, it is important to provide a cute factor somewhere in the game to serve as a "comic relief" so to speak. Perhaps V13 with be POST postapocalyptic. Where everything is still messed up but people have begun to get organized and some new technology is developed.

At any rate, the game has a tentative release sometime in 2012. I'm sure that's going to change a lot between now and then. In any case, there is plenty of time for them to get it right. And hopefully it will have a long long long beta period to successful release. Then maybe I'll get my Descent 4 someday. But until then I'll be watching this closely and when it comes out I'll be playing so that you can all slap me around and tell me how wrong I was.

This is important. For some reason current games don't seem to have any sunlight. In FO 1 and 2, you could always tell that you were in a desert wasteland with the sun relentlessly beating down on you. Maybe there can be an area covered in a perpetual cloud of dust/smog, but having the sun around most of the time is nice and provides a sense of realism even in a stylized world.

i mean, brown and gray are cool but they aren't everything. This isn't gears of war, right?

fallout's palette was also one of the best parts of its art direction. Maybe it's too late now, but I'd hate to see that bit get thrown away in favor of the now more ubiquitous "brownness".

I see where you're coming from with this, but... mehhhhh...
What I'd really want to see is more of an FPS-type MMO, with special abilities available. I'm tired of turn-based and point-and-click MMOs everywhere. There aren't that many (if any) MMOFPSRPGs out there, why not make this the first? It'd really add that unique "something" to the game, to set it apart. Good authors too who once knew better words, now only use four letter words, writing prose, anything goes.

I see where you're coming from with this, but... mehhhhh...
What I'd really want to see is more of an FPS-type MMO, with special abilities available. I'm tired of turn-based and point-and-click MMOs everywhere. There aren't that many (if any) MMOFPSRPGs out there, why not make this the first? It'd really add that unique "something" to the game, to set it apart.

For the love of all that is playable no FPS in Fallout Online please. People keep complaining how they are tired of point and click MMOs, and I'm tired of MMOs that force me to jump around my opponent, strafe-run circles, so he can't hit me and break LOS so he can't cast, all while he's doing the same to avoid being hit by me. Point and click concept is old, but it haven't seen a decent implementation in a long time.

And back on topic. As long as it's ugly enough not to be hugable but not ugly enough for me to want to never see it again it's fine as a monster concept. Honestly I don't remember how master looked in F1 but I doubt I'd want to ever see it again. And I'm sure not looking forward to seeing DA:O's "mother". F1/F2 mutants are fine by my standards btw. F3 mutants were too "orcish" for my taste.

Also, PLEASE LET US JOIN THE BROTHERHOOD!