Zero-Out Seeks Talented People

Post by **King of Creation** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:14 am

[ Game -> Article ] - More info on <a href="#Zero-out">Game: Zero-out</a>

I told The Dutch Ghost that I'd pass this along to you:<blockquote>My name is Marten van Wier but I go around under the moniker The Dutch Ghost on the forums.

Several years ago just after Van Buren
was cancelled and the future of Fallout was in doubt we attempted to
start up a fan based Fallout development project, but because of poor
planning and that people of the team left after the hype of making a
game started to die down the project was discontinued.


The Fallout franchise has now been picked up by Bethesda Softworks, a company known for its Elder Scrolls franchise.

Already Fallout fans were hesitant when they heard that this
developer had purchased the franchise as they are not known for
developing RPGs with Isometric viewpoint, using a turn based combat
system, a fact reinforced when one of the team members told in an
interview that they would stick with ‘what they know best’, opening the
possible that Fallout 3 would be more of an action-adventure than a
true hardcore RPG.


Not so long ago we finally saw a trailer as well as pages of a
‘preview’ posted online by the fine folks of No Mutants Allowed showing
fans more details of the upcoming game and revealing what the gameplay
would be like.

To say that some were dishearten is a mild statement as many do
not like the changes that Bethesda has done to a cult favourite, the
gameplay is now more focussed towards a console crownd (not surprising
as Bethesda plans to make Fallout 3 a multi platform game) and the
unique setting of Fallout seems to be badly converted, some hard core
Fallout fans quickly pointed out that Bethesda had not stuck to the
Fallout canon and 50’s background inspiration.


I am a member of a small developer group that is not happy with
Bethesda’s Fallout 3, instead we wish to develop a game that will be an
alternative to the action-adventure romp and is more like Fallout 1[i] and [i]2 and the cancelled Van Buren by former developer Black Island.


It will have the classic Fallout interface, SPECIAL system, and
turn based combat, but the game will also incorporate new 3D graphics
of all the classic creatures and backgrounds (as well as new material
of course) and a moveable camera with zoom function which shows the
game in Isometric mode which perspective can be changed.


The plan is to make this a freeware game that is playable without owning any of the previous Fallout PC games; Fallout 1, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics.


We are now seeking people with skills in the following areas:


- Writing/Dialogue

- Art

- Graphics

- Movie making (animation)

- Coding

- Scripting

- Map making

- Music

- Sound effects


If you are interested contact me on <a href="mailto:mwiervan@hotmail.com">mwiervan@hotmail.com</a> and mention ‘Zero-Out’ in the subject space.


Hope to hear from people here. </blockquote>
If you have the free time, give it a shot.

Stainless · Post by **Stainless** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:18 am

Wouldn't they come under fire from Bethsoft's lawyers? If they're making a game based on Fallout, regardless of if it's free? Unless I'm getting it confused, and he's making a game like Fallout, but changing the name?

Post by **King of Creation** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:34 am

They can do whatever they want as long as they're not charging people.

Mechanurgist · Post by **Mechanurgist** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:39 am

King of Creation wrote:They can do whatever they want as long as they're not charging people.

Intellectual property law doesn't work that way. You can't make a Coca-Cola game, even if you're not charging anyone. Intellectual property in the form of trademarks is based on "look-and-feel" and public enforcement. Much as I would love to see this game made, it's DOA and will get shut down by BethSoft in short order unless they make it generic without any of the identifying features (SPECIAL, Fallout interface, Vault Boy) of Fallout. But then, what's the point?

[...]by former developer Black Island.

Does not bode well.

Post by **Dogmeatlives** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:48 am

I am neither talented nor am I a person but I'll send an E-Mail. Maybe they could use some goofy ghoul dialogue or half-assed character sketches.

P.S.: I just pissed in my pants and there's not a thing you can do about it.

Stainless · Post by **Stainless** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:35 am

King of Creation wrote:They can do whatever they want as long as they're not charging people.

If it uses the IP, they walk a fine line. It's not simply about making it free, but if bethsoft consider that it hurts their IP in anyway they can nuke it.

Wolfman Walt · Post by **Wolfman Walt** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:09 am

Which they most likely would as it'd be a fallout game in direct competition with their Fallout game. They could say it's damaging their material by just being in competition with it.

Post by **Dogmeatlives** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:15 am

Whatever happened to Free Enterprise?

Koki · Post by **Koki** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:52 am

The only IP problem I see here is SPECIAL. The rest is just changing names and art a bit, or even not that(It's not like anyone registered Dogmeat or Super Mutants for fuck's sake).

Well this is moot, as it's a fan project and as such doomed to fail. FAIL! FAIL!

Wolfman Walt · Post by **Wolfman Walt** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:54 am

Is special really a trademark? I mean, can you really copyright "Strength, Perception, Intelligence, etc, etc" or even how a game system works? Seriousily, I don't know, but it'd be like Wizards copyrighting "Strength, Dexteriy, Constitution, etc."

jackass888 · Post by **jackass888** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 8:18 am

how about calling it L.A.I.C.E.P.S. seriosly

Anyway best of luck to this team. Wish i could contribute but im just a bum. Would be very fkn nice to see again a fallout that is made by gamers for gamers... and that survives this bethesda crap.

Brother None · Post by **Brother None** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 8:30 am

Wolfman Walt wrote:Is special really a trademark?

Yes, SPECIAL is trademarked. Not the words, but the system, just like the D&D system is copyrighted without having to specifically copyright any of its keywords. It's easy to show in court that a system is too close to SPECIAL for use, calling it LAICEPS or ACELIPS won't change that.

Fair use has its limits. You can mod Fallout freely under fair use, you can make sites like DaC, NMA and the Vault using assets under fair use, but you can not release a game using Fallout assets, so they can't copy the interface, they can't copy SPECIAL, and they can't directly allude to Fallout in the title (so no "Zero Projekt: The REAL Fallout 3")

That's the problem with FIFE too. The engine is fine, but when it borrows assets from Fallout, that's breaking the law. The reason that doesn't matter is because nobody cares about the assets from Fallout 1/2 or nobody has the money to pay for a lawsuit, that's Interplay's business. Using SPECIAL is now Bethesda's business, and we know damned well how trigger-happy they are.

frissy · Post by **frissy** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:02 am

I might. Of course I wouldn't like to waste my time on a project that will get stoned to death by elfs and trolls on legal issues.

SPECIAL.LY when Beth is what it is...

Blargh · Post by **Blargh** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 1:46 pm

I am terribly sorry, however I am not at all fond of ghosts or The Dutch. LOL.

aries100 · Post by **aries100** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:27 pm

Be aware that Bethesda now has the legal and contractual rightts to the SPECIAL system, used in Fallout. Hence, you can't use the SPECIAL system.

SPECIAL is a system integrated into Fallout which decides on how the gameplay is carried out within the game, Fallout or not. I think the classis Fallout interface also is trademarked and copyrigthed by Bethesda since they own the Fallout IP now. Maybe you can check to see how much the GURPS license will cost you.

The best advice, I can give you is to make a post apoc game yourself that is truly unique and have good tactical turnbased combat. And isn't named Fallout in any way, shape or form.

Afterall and The Fall: The Last Days of Gaia are examples of such games.

I would suggest you could either do a post apoc game set in the year 2150 (or there abouts) - after the world has been flooded because of climate disaster or you could do something in a setting in which humanity's food resources are disappearing, maybe because of overuse of pesticides or genetinc engineering that got out of hand. And then the anti-hero of the story needs to go to the vaults in Norway (near the ice cap and the north pole) to recover some (or all) of the seeds so that humanity again can get food etc. Of course, these two plotlines can also be combined.

Please just don't make Fallout game that just is Fallout with another name, since the wolfes will sure come after you. (and by wolfes I mean the lawyers of Zenimax. the owners of Bethesda Softworks).

VasikkA · Post by **VasikkA** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:35 pm

Oh not another Fallout fan project. They're even worse than the official ones.

I give this one 3 months. No, 2 months! Tops.

T-900 · Post by **T-900** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:36 pm

Ungrateful little shits. Get this off the frontpage

aries100 · Post by **aries100** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:31 am

Actually, I think this is sort of cool

since it is made by people who say 'ok, we don't like Bethsoft's F3 game, so we'll just make our own game, the way we like it'.

I still urge them not to make Fallout game, though.

VasikkA · Post by **VasikkA** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 3:05 pm

aries100 wrote:Actually, I think this is sort of cool since it is made by people who say 'ok, we don't like Bethsoft's F3 game, so we'll just make our own game, the way we like it'.

It's also made by people who don't have the talent, time, manpower, vision and financing to carry out the project.

frissy · Post by **frissy** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 3:42 pm

Nobodys perfect