Fallout 4

Arcanis · Post by **Arcanis** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 9:16 pm

Scuzz wrote:
Blackhawk wrote:Ok, then. Give us Seattle. Use the 2077 (50s style) World's Fair as the basis for the local society and give us a post-apocalyptic Jetsons.
I was thinking Fallout NorthWEST as well. With Portland, Seattle and Vancouver there are plenty of places for neat destroyed things.

FTFY

That or my map skills are really bad.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 11:25 pm

I'm assuming it was a typo, too. It must have been one hell of a war if Portland is in the northeast now.

Apollo · Post by **Apollo** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 12:08 am

Archinerd wrote:I know its not supposed to be realistic, I'm just looking for somewhat plausible.

List of Factions that likely know how to make concrete or have access to the knowledge:
Brotherhood of Steel
Followers of the Apocalypse
Some Vaults
The Enclave
Mr. House

I'm willing to concede this one though. The point is they could be welding the seems of metal walls or building things from stone or any number of materials more durable than corrugated metal and 2x4's. At the very least, make yourselves some nice sleeping bags out of Golden Gecko pelts instead of sleeping on stained pre-war beds!

I completely agree! After all, we're talking 200 years here folks. Imagine the changes the US has seen in 200 years. Fallout 3 and FNV looked like the war was maybe 20 to 25 years in the past, not 200. Did everyone forget how to use nails, hammers, and 2x4's?

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 12:14 am

Blackhawk wrote:I'm assuming it was a typo, too. It must have been one hell of a war if Portland is in the northeast now.

Ummm....

AjD · Post by **AjD** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 1:00 am

Teaser site update incoming...

Today’s little update is a change to the Morse code message. The hard working and Morse-savvy chaps on the r/Fallout have translated this as follows:

NCRA UNIT BST 314 7 EMRG MSG NEW YORK STAGE 7 WASHINGTON STAGE 7 LOS ANGELES STAGE 7 AUSTIN STAGE 7 CHICAGO STAGE 7 NEW ORLEAN STAGE 7 LAS VEGAS UNKNOWN MIAMI STAGE 7 DALLAS STAGE 7 DENVER STAGE 7 SAN DIEGO STAGE 7 SAN FRANCISCO STAGE 7 BOSTON STAGE 7.
“Stage 7″ probably refers to the International Nuclear Event Scale, under which 7 is classed as a “major accident.” A couple of interesting things to note here; Las Vegas is classified as ‘Unknown’ (due to the actions of Mr. House in Fallout: New Vegas) and Boston, where this game is rumoured to be based, is a Stage 7. That means if the game is set around Boston, it, like Washington DC was in Fallout 3, is going to be pretty messed up.

Also this:

In other Fallout events today, New Vegas and Fallout 3 both received small updates on Steam. The Fallout twitter feed states this was just to add support for cloud saves, but the timing is … quite a coincidence. Especially as neither game has received an update in several years.

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 2:23 pm

AjD wrote:Well, like it or loathe it.... something is going to be revealed in about 6 days & 28 minutes. Teaser site now says....

"Nuclear winter is coming..."

...and shows a countdown timer that expires around lunchtime (EST) this Sunday. If this was a fake, Bethesda would surely have quashed it by now. This is for realz, folks.

Also, for those who prefer more natural topographic features with their Fallout: there was a code on the teaser site two days ago that translated to:

The quabbin reservoir is seven zero four two two nine nine
Massachusetts natives probably already know that the Quabbin Reservoir is the largest inland body of water in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. So, I can only speculate that Fallout 4 will feature:

- Improvised watercraft pieced together from leftover lumber and auto parts
- Mutated radioactive sea monsters
- A new sub-race of aquatic bandits straight out of Kevin Costner's Waterworld
- An awesome secret underwater government base filled with who-knows-what.

Yummy stuff... I can hardly wait.

(Also, the real Quabbin is some 18 miles long, 36 sq. miles in total size. And it's 65 miles west of Boston - so this implies a large game world, with both rural and urban areas to explore. Something for everyone, perhaps?)

"Nuclear Winter" makes me think this is going to be a frozen winter wasteland this time around. What better way to differentiate itself to sunny New Vegas?

ibdoomed · Post by **ibdoomed** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 2:31 pm

Archinerd wrote:"Nuclear Winter" makes me think this is going to be a frozen winter wasteland this time around. What better way to differentiate itself to sunny New Vegas?

Hmmm, so recently after metro:LL though...

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 2:37 pm

Archinerd wrote: "Nuclear Winter" makes me think this is going to be a frozen winter wasteland this time around. What better way to differentiate itself to sunny New Vegas?

Really? I'm counting on a Fallout/Freedom Force crossover.

AjD · Post by **AjD** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 2:56 pm

Archinerd wrote:"Nuclear Winter" makes me think this is going to be a frozen winter wasteland this time around. What better way to differentiate itself to sunny New Vegas?

Wouldn't surprise me one bit! Especially after all the work they put into those lovely snowflake algorithms for Skyrim (assuming F4 uses an updated version of Skyrim's Gamebryo engine, which seems likely).

Maybe we'll get the occasional radioactive snow squall too (with the player running for cover from radiation damage, a la Stalker).

Hamlet3145 · Post by **Hamlet3145** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:03 pm

Hmmm. Possible post-apocalyptic Boston area winter? I'd be in for that.

Kelric · Post by **Kelric** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:23 pm

Hamlet3145 wrote:Hmmm. Possible post-apocalyptic Boston area winter? I'd be in for that.

As long as I can ice skate on the pond in the Public Gardens!

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:29 am

AjD wrote:
Archinerd wrote:"Nuclear Winter" makes me think this is going to be a frozen winter wasteland this time around. What better way to differentiate itself to sunny New Vegas?
Wouldn't surprise me one bit! Especially after all the work they put into those lovely snowflake algorithms for Skyrim (assuming F4 uses an updated version of Skyrim's Gamebryo engine, which seems likely).

Sorry to be nitpicky, but Gamebryo is what Oblivion/Fallout 3/Fallout NV used. Skyrim used their own in-house Creation engine. So yeah, lots to look forward to in terms of engine improvements since Skyrim

Oh, I found an old article from 2011 that states that they would continue to use Skyrim's engine in future titles:

http://www.vg247.com/2011/01/25/future- ... ays-hines/" target="_blank

AjD · Post by **AjD** » Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:59 am

Rumpy wrote:Sorry to be nitpicky, but Gamebryo is what Oblivion/Fallout 3/Fallout NV used. Skyrim used their own in-house Creation engine. So yeah, lots to look forward to in terms of engine improvements since Skyrim

Thanks, right... Creation superceded Gamebryo. I seem to remember now that Creation itself was largely a tweaked version of Gamebryo, or at least that was the rumor (mildly controversial at the time - was it really a 'new' engine, like they said). Anyway, makes me wonder if they've tweaked it further for F4, and if so, how.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Wed Nov 27, 2013 4:24 am

AjD wrote: Anyway, makes me wonder if they've tweaked it further for F4, and if so, how.

I'm certain they will. You just about have to due to differences in the games.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Wed Nov 27, 2013 3:58 pm

Yeah, just look at how much improvement the Gamebryo engine received between Oblivion and the Fallout Games. Skyrim already looks incredible, and I can only imagine the improvements they'd make to the Creation engine for Fallout 4.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Nov 27, 2013 4:59 pm

Rumpy wrote:Yeah, just look at how much improvement the Gamebryo engine received between Oblivion and the Fallout Games. Skyrim already looks incredible, and I can only imagine the improvements they'd make to the Creation engine for Fallout 4.

Especially given that they're going to be able to run it on much more powerful hardware.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Wed Nov 27, 2013 5:48 pm

Blackhawk wrote:
Rumpy wrote:Yeah, just look at how much improvement the Gamebryo engine received between Oblivion and the Fallout Games. Skyrim already looks incredible, and I can only imagine the improvements they'd make to the Creation engine for Fallout 4.
Especially given that they're going to be able to run it on much more powerful hardware.

Yep, definitely. In that sense, I think it's already next-gen ready. The game will already look much closer to its PC counterpart in due part to the increase in resolution and sharpness.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Fri Nov 29, 2013 5:25 am

PC gamers benefit from the new console hardware spec as well, although for some that are enjoying the stabilized hardware spec from last gen will have to upgrade.

Basically, it means that Bethesda will now make full use of modern gaming PC hardware, including proper 64-bit and multi-core use, GPU computing, large amounts of RAM, a more robust GPU feature set and power.

Anyone who has played these Bethesda open world games can identify at least some of the many, many tricks they use to hide the low system specs. There's a lot of crazy things that happen under the hood to pop as much stuff out of memory as they can get away with. Now, imagine most of that going away, and where it can't go away we'll see a 12x increase in fidelity (512MB total memory to ~6GB total memory used).

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Fri Nov 29, 2013 4:15 pm

That's an interesting way of looking at it that I hadn't thought about. You're right. It goes both ways, in that any cross-platform games also appearing on the PC will be less constrained by the previous console limitations. That alone should benefit both PCs and Consoles going forward. It will be interesting to see what developers do with this. In a sense, it's going to give those devs new creative freedom in doing things that they couldn't during the previous generation due to limitations.

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Sun Dec 01, 2013 5:49 pm

KVNGR REV ALPHA PPS VT PIZ UHMYLPVOQ CM XHWMZP. NBJB SPI'F BYQS QT D'Y BYFGEOB FI VQDYL MAQ. -NGQHT 5120-
Nuclear winter has come

No idea what any of it means.

http://thesurvivor2299.com/" target="_blank

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sun Dec 01, 2013 7:13 pm

Wiki

The message means, when deciphered: "The Institute is sealed. They won't help us; I'm heading to Black Row -TBNLS 5120-".

The way that the message was deciphered is as follows:
The beginning of the message laid out the format to decipher it: KVNGR (Keyed Vigenere) REV ALPHA (Reversed Alphabet) PPS VT (Passphrase VaultTec).

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 8:55 pm

From Bethesda Softworks Twitter:

PSA: If you don’t hear it through an official channel like this, assume all rumors and speculation are false.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 9:18 am

Outed as fake by a bunch of guys on the Fallout Reddit.

Not really concerned, or impressed. Everyone already knows a new Fallout and Elder Scrolls game is coming. It's not a matter of if, but when.

AjD · Post by **AjD** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 12:15 pm

Got to be the biggest pre-release game hoax ever! Damn, it was well-played. P.T. Barnum would be proud. And some PR firm should hire this person (if the fans don't skin him alive first).

So well played, in fact, that I'm STILL curious to find out what they'll post on December 11th (even if it's just a Fallout-inspired Rick Astley tune). And definitely surprised Bethesda didn't squash this a week ago. A misstep, I think - this long emo roller coaster for fans could lead to some viral crankiness when the actual teasers are released.

Here's a great Google doc'ed summary of the whole affair - an interesting read and clearly a herculean effort by whoever is behind this very creative hoax.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 9:24 pm

Eh, not much to this. If you think about it, it's not actually building any hype for a game, and instead the hoax just capitalizes on demand that already exists.

AjD · Post by **AjD** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 11:20 pm

And then, on December 11th, this is leaked (from Kotaku)...

Leaked Documents Reveal That Fallout 4 Is Real, Set In Boston

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 12:01 am

AjD wrote:And then, on December 11th, this is leaked (from Kotaku)...

Leaked Documents Reveal That Fallout 4 Is Real, Set In Boston

No surprises there, that's all pretty much been known:

1) Bethesda didn't pay millions for the Fallout license to sit on it and do nothing, especially considering how well Fallout 3 and Fallout NV did

2) It was known that Beth had people researching the Boston area

But nice to have a confirmation, nevertheless.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Sat Dec 14, 2013 5:33 am

They paid a few millions more fighting with the bloodsucking zombified remains of Interplay to secure the last remaining rights to Fallout.

So yeah, they won't fight that hard to do 1 game and 1 side game.

AjD · Post by **AjD** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:19 pm

And we're back on...

Fallout 4: Industry Insider More Or Less Confirms Its Presence At E3 2015

AjD · Post by **AjD** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:33 pm

More info hitting the streets... leaks, so unconfirmed.... but kind of fun:

Bethesda have discussed a post apocalyptic New York City and Chicago as being two of locations they wanted to explore, according to our source who appeared to have a certain amount of insight about the overall industry.

They couldn’t reveal the exact location of the next installment. However, they did reveal that it’s not going to be on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. “Bethesda [are] aiming for an impressive scale and atmosphere with Fallout 4,” they said. “They’re only developing it on current gen and PC.”

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 1:14 am

I wouldn't mind New York or Atlanta or even Texas. All the big towns could be a new game. Then again it doesn't have to be in the US but I guess it helps with culture and story.

AjD · Post by **AjD** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 1:28 am

My dream for F4 would be a fully rendered post-apocalyptic 1940's or '50s-era NYC. Something enormous (with all that next gen console memory available), all five boroughs represented, roving gangs, survivors hiding out in abandoned subway stations, that sort of thing.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 2:07 am

sorta The Division meets Fallout?

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 3:50 am

Not too much of a surprise to everyone. More that we're all looking forward to this.

Also, I'm super excited for more companies to make full use of the PS4/XB1 hardware spec, which translates into full utilization of a lot of PC tech that's been available for years, but now will actually be used.

For example, anyone following various posters adventures in Skyrim modding knows that Skyrim can look amazing, and have a lot of extra gameplay elements that modders have been adding. The only reason they could add those was that PC can handle a lot more than already old consoles.

My hope is that they do more with the follower system in these games, and that they don't focus too much on just using all that new power for graphics.

Other things, like a lot more cores in the CPU will help with AI.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 3:55 am

Speaking of Skyrim mods they uncapped the size mods can be. So they can be over 100 megs now and be posted on Workshop and other places.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 9:26 am

AjD wrote:My dream for F4 would be a fully rendered post-apocalyptic 1940's or '50s-era NYC. Something enormous (with all that next gen console memory available), all five boroughs represented, roving gangs, survivors hiding out in abandoned subway stations, that sort of thing.

I think the issue with NYC is that it would be completely leveled in any nuclear exchange. So I think any "fully rendered post-apocalyptic" NYC would just be rubble. Some rebuilding would presumably have occurred, but it seems unlikely that you'd have recognizable landmarks.

AjD · Post by **AjD** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 10:20 am

Daehawk wrote:sorta The Division meets Fallout?

Sure, why not... except make it first-person, exploration-based with lots of retro-irony and tons of role playing (of course).

But seriously - traveling the Wasteland with a co-op partner would be all kinds of AWESOME. I'm sure Bethesda has looked closely at leading next-gen titles like The Division... no idea if Division will be good, but the world-building in those demos is super-impressive. Whether it's The Division, F4, or some other title, I'm deeply excited to see what sort of huge open-world games the next-gen can pull off (with all that extra ram, speed, etc). I like to explore - so I want bigger worlds, if that's not obvious (and more buildings you can enter too.)

[My big question about The Division is - when I see that awesome NYC world, I think "Explore!" But I fear the game designers are thinking "Death match!" Well-designed co-op death match set-pieces, but still death matches...]

El Guapo wrote:
AjD wrote:My dream for F4 would be a fully rendered post-apocalyptic 1940's or '50s-era NYC. Something enormous (with all that next gen console memory available), all five boroughs represented, roving gangs, survivors hiding out in abandoned subway stations, that sort of thing.
I think the issue with NYC is that it would be completely leveled in any nuclear exchange. So I think any "fully rendered post-apocalyptic" NYC would just be rubble. Some rebuilding would presumably have occurred, but it seems unlikely that you'd have recognizable landmarks.

No El Guapo, haven't you heard?

[cheesy scifi genre]

Right before the big nuclear war, an enormous polymer dome was hastily constructed! It reaches all the way from the edge of Long Island to Hoboken. The dome was only partially successful in protecting the city - half the Statue of Liberty was pulverized, making it look like a post-apocalyptic Venus De Milo. But most of the city is largely intact!

Now the radiation leaks are another matter...

[/cheesy scifi genre]

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 11:59 am

Hopefully they do things in such a way as to add some environmental variety to the game this time. Between the Capitol Wasteland and the Mojave, I'm ready for somewhere that isn't flat. Do the city, fine, but also give me a sprawling 50s suburb and a forest!

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 12:50 pm

El Guapo wrote:
AjD wrote:My dream for F4 would be a fully rendered post-apocalyptic 1940's or '50s-era NYC. Something enormous (with all that next gen console memory available), all five boroughs represented, roving gangs, survivors hiding out in abandoned subway stations, that sort of thing.
I think the issue with NYC is that it would be completely leveled in any nuclear exchange. So I think any "fully rendered post-apocalyptic" NYC would just be rubble. Some rebuilding would presumably have occurred, but it seems unlikely that you'd have recognizable landmarks.

I think if Washington DC could get away relatively unscathed with the exception of a radioactive crater where the White House used to be, perhaps enough of NYC would be around to be playable. Unless there's something in the Fallout canon that said that NYC was glassed.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 12:54 pm

$iljanus wrote:
El Guapo wrote:
AjD wrote:My dream for F4 would be a fully rendered post-apocalyptic 1940's or '50s-era NYC. Something enormous (with all that next gen console memory available), all five boroughs represented, roving gangs, survivors hiding out in abandoned subway stations, that sort of thing.
I think the issue with NYC is that it would be completely leveled in any nuclear exchange. So I think any "fully rendered post-apocalyptic" NYC would just be rubble. Some rebuilding would presumably have occurred, but it seems unlikely that you'd have recognizable landmarks.
I think if Washington DC could get away relatively unscathed with the exception of a radioactive crater where the White House used to be, perhaps enough of NYC would be around to be playable. Unless there's something in the Fallout canon that said that NYC was glassed.

It's been awhile since I played Fallout 3, but my recollection of the DC wasteland was not as "relatively unscathed".