More Fallout 3 Developer News

Post by **King of Creation** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 3:37 pm

[ Game -> Update ] - More info on <a href="#Joel Burgess">Person: Joel Burgess</a> | More info on <a href="#Bethesda Softworks">Company: Bethesda Softworks</a> | More info on <a href="#Fallout 3">Game: Fallout 3</a>

Fallout 3's Lead Level Designer has been revealed as Joel Burgess, and <a target="_self" href="http://www.nma-fallout.com">NMA</a> has done a nice piece on him:<blockquote>
· In addition to working as a level designer on Oblivion, Joel'sBloodrayne 2, Aeon Flux and... ehrm, not much else.

· He was in a band named <a href="http://www.joelburgess.com/rcd.htm" target="_blank">Roller Chair Derby</a>. They had a song named "Wasteland".

· He appears to be a proponent of randomized content: <a href="http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/inde ... 8158654%22" target="_blank">Post #1</a>, <a href="http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/inde ... try8158481" target="_blank">Post #2</a>

· He's a fan of targeted shots in FO1: <a href="http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/inde ... try8082866" target="_blank">Post #3</a>
 impressive resume also includes
<blockquote>Look at Fallout 1 as an example. In that game, a
headshot could blind your enemy, or you could go with my favorite and
blow out kneecaps, slowing movement speed. So for that game it was
about a lot more than damage returns; it also affected enemy behavior.
Also - that was totally based on character skill. No amount of reflex
with the mouse could help a spear-chucking troglodyte steady a sniper
rifle.</blockquote>Furthermore, Joel
has announced that BethSoft is hiring additional level designers to
work on Fallout 3. For some reason, the announcement was made on <a href="http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums" target="_blank">The Elder Scrolls Forums</a>, a popular hangout of Fallout modders and developers:
<blockquote>Some of you folks may know of me from previous posts, as a
level designer on Oblivion. I'm honored to be lead level designer for
Fallout 3, and I'm looking for a few good lackeys. Those of you who
have seen me around probably are also aware of my love for the mod
community, so I'm very excited at the prospect of hiring modders.

So here's the deal - we're looking for people who can make great
dungeons. Did you play Mehrunes Razor and say "I can do that"? Maybe
you've played a quest mod that had some spectacular gameplay areas
built into it? Those are the kinds of people I'm interested in. Post
your name or the name of somebody who you'd reccomend, and any links to
their work. Bonus points for resumes.

Please keep this thread on-topic, btw. Feel free to open additional
threads for discussion, and even link to them within this thread, but
this thread should be reserved for potential candidates, their info,
and why they're the right person for the job.

Here are the qualifications.

LEVEL DESIGNER -- Rockville, Maryland

Design, build, and script levels for future Elder Scrolls and Fallout
products. Includes working in our proprietary toolset to design, build,
light, and script game areas.

Candidate should have:

· Excellent sense of 3D game space and gameflow.

· Experience with designing, building, and populating game levels.

· Experience scripting or programming complex interactivity.

· Excellent communication, documentation, and interpersonal skills.

· Experience with The Elder Scrolls Construction Set a plus.

· Game industry experience a plus.

· Experience using modular kits a plus

· Excellent, proven creative writing skills a plus

Candidate must supply an example of their work in document form
complete with images and descriptions of the gameplay space, events,
and implementation.
</blockquote>Essential links:

<a href="http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/inde ... pic=593070" target="_blank">Bethesda hiring level designers</a>
<a href="http://www.joelburgess.com/" target="_blank">Joel Burgess' website.</a>
<a href="http://www.mobygames.com/developer/shee ... rId,60062/" target="_blank">Joel Burgess' Mobygames entry</a>


Thanks, Briosafreak and Sander.


Addendum: posting later in <a href="http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/inde ... pic=593070" target="_blank">the thread</a>, Joel Burgess had a few additionata:+
If you have done work in other games, or have a great WIP you haven't
released, still feel free to apply, but folks with released stuff for
Oblivion and Morrowind are obviously in the best position to share work.


+ I swung by NMA last night and saw the post. Thanks!</blockquote>
<blockquote>
</blockquote> I still think St. Toxic should apply for the Art Department. <blockquote> </blockquote>Spotted @ <a href="http://www.nma-fallout.com">No Mutants Allowed</a>

DaC-Sniper · Post by **DaC-Sniper** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 3:41 pm

Infiltrate and Eliminate

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 6:09 pm

Targeted shots would only work in a TB game, I guess, and a first-person TB game isn't really a possibility... is this good news?

T-900 · Post by **T-900** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 6:27 pm

He's looking for dungeon designers, for a Fallout game?

Gyargckgh! I say Gyargckgh!

I was always proud of fallout for not really having any enemy-infested locations that were not directly connected to a detailed quest.

Fallout 2 fucked that up a bit with places like the Wanamingo Mine and the ruins of the old Mutant Base.. But it retained a good feel.

This guy seems to have a certain taint of Oblivion about him.. Will there be hundreds of desert caves and old mines packed to the brim with an unrealistically grand population of mutant beasties, purely for the purpose of levelling up with?

johnnygothisgun · Post by **johnnygothisgun** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 6:50 pm

T-900 wrote:Will there be hundreds of desert caves and old mines packed to the brim with an unrealistically grand population of mutant beasties, purely for the purpose of levelling up with?

yes

Mr. Teatime · Post by **Mr. Teatime** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 8:38 pm

I dislike the focus on dungeons. the FOs didn't really have many genuine dungeons, and the ones that were there weren't particularly big or interesting aside from that mine in FO2.
The areas with enemies in in the FOs generally had a lot of other stuff to, like people to talk to, history to read, quests to find, story to follow, etc, and I never really have thought of them as dungeons. Contrast to Oblivion where there are LOADS of obvious dungeons (with admitedly a quite decent level design, but still).
So, talking about dungeons with FO... hmm.

Brother None · Post by **Brother None** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 8:52 pm

Not to mention the Fallout 1 determination to make all dungeons (except perhaps the Rat Caves in front of Vault 13) fit into the game. Depending on your definition of dungeon, The Glow, Vault 15, the Vats and the Master's Cathedral, the only areas I'd define as dungeons, all had massive stories to tell (well, V15 not massive, but important) and were interesting.

No reason to assume that this custom will be honoured, though. After all, it's probably not "what they do well".

Redeye · Post by **Redeye** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 9:25 pm

Kharn wrote:Not to mention the Fallout 1 determination to make all dungeons (except perhaps the Rat Caves in front of Vault 13) fit into the game. Depending on your definition of dungeon, The Glow, Vault 15, the Vats and the Master's Cathedral, the only areas I'd define as dungeons, all had massive stories to tell (well, V15 not massive, but important) and were interesting.

No reason to assume that this custom will be honoured, though. After all, it's probably not "what they do well".

Necropolis sewers, Vault 12, deathclaw cave (Hub)...

My concern is the mental level of the designers.

Hopefully no renne-speak or juvenile grasp of politics and sociology.

Brother None · Post by **Brother None** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 9:28 pm

Redeye wrote:Necropolis sewers

Not enough opposition to classify as a dungeon, plus it's inhabited. But yeah, arguably.

Redeye wrote:Vault 12

True

Redeye wrote:deathclaw cave (Hub)...

Not a dungeon. It's just one room, man. More of a boss-battle than a dungeon.

atoga · Post by **atoga** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 11:49 pm

'some subterranean place' does not mean 'dungeon', just because the two are similar in terms of atmosphere. most dungeons are (1) exist in plotless vacuums, or are only seem tied to the plot as an afterthought and (2) have a baddies : treasure ratio close to 1 : 1 (otherwise, little incentive exists for people in the game world to trudge through them, other than intangible experience rewards). the distinction is important for considering how combat should be implemented throughout the game in general (that is, for the most part it should be 'meaningful', with the exception of random encounters and the like).

i never played oblivion, but this was the biggest problem with a lot of 'real' roleplaying games as well, namely arcanum, torment & baldur's gate. there should be better ways to gain experience & goodies than abstaining from the story / 'living' part of the game world than hacking one's way through a static dungeon for hours on end.

MadBill · Post by **MadBill** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 1:46 am

Diablo but with guns!

Jesus Christ · Post by **Jesus Christ** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 2:01 am

Fallablo III - Obliviout!

Brother None · Post by **Brother None** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 2:05 am

Imagine Fallout 3 with randomly generated dungeons, randomly generated quests and NPCs, and levelling enemies.

Best Game Ever?

Smiley · Post by **Smiley** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 9:43 am

Kharn wrote:Imagine Fallout 3 with randomly generated dungeons, randomly generated quests and NPCs, and levelling enemies.

Best Game Ever?

If that meant exlusion of some quests, it'd be alright..

Think Diablo 1's way of handling it. You got approx. three quarters of the quests in the game, resulting in each time you played it, you'd likely see new quests.

This would of course mean that they would have to make a ton of stuff that would be there or not..

The idea *could* work, seeing as the wasteland could've developed in infininte amounts of ways.. Add a town or two, replace some, and the same with NPC's.

My enjoyment in FO was the fluff in between, the small stories, the way things had evolved, the humour.. the main storylines were never really that important to me.

edit:
... I don't get it.. in the text it says "largely uncontested stories", but I wrote "t h e s m a l l s t o r i e s"..

Thor Kaufman · Post by **Thor Kaufman** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 12:56 pm

DU made a word filter for small, congoid
small penis

Post by **Dogmeatlives** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 2:46 am

Dungeons?! Can anyone think outside the dungeons?! This game is gonna suck.

Redeye · Post by **Redeye** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 3:08 am

I want to be able to take prisoners and sell them into slavery.

Jesus Christ · Post by **Jesus Christ** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 6:41 am

Redeye wrote:I want to be able to take prisoners and sell them into slavery.

I love you redeye.

Killzig · Post by **Killzig** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 2:57 am

Kharn wrote:Imagine Fallout 3 with randomly generated dungeons, randomly generated quests and NPCs, and levelling enemies.

Best Game Ever?

hahaha I hate you Kharn. You know someone is going to take this as a sincere hope and second your motion and before you know it we're going to end up with an insanely bland, meandering, unfocused mess of a game.

In other words, Oblivion with guns.

TelemachusSneezed · Post by **TelemachusSneezed** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 6:25 am

Mr. Dungeons wrote:So here's the deal - we're looking for people who can make great dungeons. Did you play Mehrunes Razor and say "I can do that"? Maybe you've played a quest mod that had some spectacular gameplay areas built into it? Those are the kinds of people I'm interested in.

Man... I still had some hope that the next Fallout wouldn't be like TES.

And yet...

Mr. Dungeons wrote:Look at Fallout 1 as an example. In that game, a headshot could blind your enemy, or you could go with my favorite and blow out kneecaps, slowing movement speed. So for that game it was about a lot more than damage returns; it also affected enemy behavior. Also - that was totally based on character skill. No amount of reflex with the mouse could help a spear-chucking troglodyte steady a sniper rifle.

What the hell's supposed to be made of all this?

FRUSTRATION!

Duck and Cover

More Fallout 3 Developer News

More Fallout 3 Developer News

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