I think I've already had this conversation in a thread I created a while back talking about spin-off ideas, so I'll keep this short. I think something that's nothing more than Civ in Fallout clothing might be interesting, but that's also not the only way to go about it. Just like Call of Duty isn't just Halo with different textures by virtue of them both being FPSs, a Fallout spin-off based around town building could more than just a rip-off of another game. There are plenty of gameplay mechanics I can think of (saluaging, highly customizable and possibly procedurally-generated town assets and equipment, an emphasis on fortifications for defending raids that's similar to the old Castles games - only with more intelligent AI, etc) that would add relevant twists to the genre in the form of a Fallout spin-off. If it were a game built from the ground up with a certain gameplay type in mind as opposed to just borrowing concepts from another game and changing some textures around.

I mean, I play Civ 4 a lot, and I also really enjoy Galactic Civilizations. That's rather a poor example, I know (because GalCiv certainly shows it's Civ roots in a lot places) but the point is that two games in the same basic sort of genre wouldn't have to be nothing more than the same game with different aesthetics.

I would imagine a Fallout game of this type to be focused more on building up a single settlement than trying to conquer the whole of the Wasteland, for example. (Anyways, this is getting a bit off-topic, and I already have a thread dealing with this concept http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=965839.

(From FO:T, you could also grab the Calculator and it's robotic army - but that'd be a very different experience, gameplay-wise; you wouldn't care for food or medicine, for example.)

As far as FOT factions go, the Reavers would be better:

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Reavers

You could also maybe add FO3's The Institute from the Commonwealth and Van Buren's Caesar's Legion, Children of Hecate and Reservation ghouls (more organized and militiant than any other ghoul faction in other games).

If they were specified as needing to be somewhat shorter games (~20-30 hours each, instead of a nice ~40-60 hour target), with the intention from the get-go to offer them as a single bundle of games - and/or, to offer them for digital download - then that might prove to be more successful, sales-wise. Picture a bundle of, say ... three half-length games for the price of one full-length game. Would you buy it? More importantly, do you think others would buy it? What if was a series of such volumes?

Bringing this over from the F4 Speculation thread, per your implied request:


True enough - if developed professionally. But for a fan-originated project, going for a "total conversion" of an existing engine would still be interesting as an exercise. I know, if I could solve the problem of not being able to draw my way out of a wet paper bag (even with a team of expert consultants lead by Leonardo Da Vinci), I'd be ALL OVER a Civ4 mod. Or maybe, instead, a mod of Civ4: Colonization.

As for a ground-up, professionally-developed game ... I think elements of the X-Com series could prove useful, as an "idea resource". X-Com nicely blended a resource-and-time-management game, with tactical combat scenarios.


Yes and no. It would depend on how you set up the "Nations"/"Factions" of the game. Right off the bat, I can see FIVE possible factions:

• Brotherhood of Steel
  
• NCR
  
• Enclave
  
• Raiders
  
• the Master's Army

(From FO:T, you could also grab the Calculator and it's robotic army - but that'd be a very different experience, gameplay-wise; you wouldn't care for food or medicine, for example.)

Hmm, we could seriously add to that.

-Western Brotherhood of Steel
-Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel
-Eastern Brotherhood of Steel
-Outcast

-The Hoover Dam

-The Pitt

I'd like to see a series of Fallout spinoff RPG which addresses unique cultural differences across various parts of the world. Backstories and social interactions would be very different if Fallout were to take place in UK, or Russia, or Japan. If Beth were to license the mechanics and limited use of the name (example Fallout: London, or Fallout Japan) to game companies located in the respective regions, we could end up with a very interesting series of games with different social accents using a similar game design. I very much enjoyed the old Darklands RPG, set in Germany, using German history as a backdrop.

Don't know how well games like this would sell here in the US, but I would certainly buy them.

There is already one major problem with this idea...the nations of Fallout, would still be living in a 50's styled/Cold War mentality. Due to the fact, that the Cold War is over, and that many of the nations, and policies which would be depicted in a Fallout International set, have long ended or changed, many foreign players as well as players here in the US, who are not well versed in history, will have a hard time understanding some of the concepts/cultural references brought up.

Secondly, you would have to market the series to an older crowd, since if I were to try to market the games to a youth audience in lets say Germany, and I start referencing the DDR, and other Cold War "isms", you would probably get a varried response of huh's and what's and a general lack of understanding.

Fallout: Back to Basics Basically, a return to the original Fallout format. With or without 2D sprites and an isometric view. Basically an RPG with more traditional RPG mechanics in mind. Personally, I think the DS could handle something like this pretty aptly (I'd imagine you could easily fit all of Fallout 2 on one DS cartridge at this point) but it would on a PC interface just as well, of course. If we went the PC route, I'd like to see some current-gen 3D graphics involved - and I think a turn-based game with lots of pretty graphics could make for some very cinematic combat, as well. Anyway, this one's sort of a no-brainer, as well.