Fallout 1 Vision Statement
Fallout 1 Vision Statement
Vision Statement
(or why this game is damn cool)
1. Mega levels of violence (you had better give us that Mature
rating right now)
You can shoot everything in this game: people, animals, buildings and
walls. You can make “called shots” on people, so you can aim for their
eyes or their groin. Called shots can do more damage, knock the
target unconscious or have other effects. When people die, they don’t
just die – they get cut in half, they melt into a pile of goo, explode like
a blood sausage, or several different ways – depending on the weapon
you use. When I use my rocket launcher on some poor defenseless
townsperson, he’ll know (and his neighbors will be cleaning up the
blood for weeks!)
This is the wasteland. Life is cheap and violence is all that there is.
We are going to grab the player’s guts and remind him of this.
For example, to restore the ability to make fresh water to the player’s
home Vault, the player must take a critical piece of equipment from
another town. That town will no longer be able to purify their water,
and that town will die. The player can then attempt to save that town,
but that’s another problem.
In another town, two people are fighting for control of the town.
Neither of these guys are saints. It’s a matter of choice for the player,
he has to choose one of these criminals to run the town – and kill the
other one.
No one style of play will be perfect. The player will have to try
different actions to get to the end of the game.
In one case, the player needs to get into an armed camp. He can try
to sneak in (using his stealth skill), bluff his way in (using his fast talk
skill), or shoot the guards (using his combat skills).
4. The players actions affect the world (and the world reacts to
the player)
The game will notice what the player does and respond accordingly.
The main bad guy isn’t just sitting back and letting the player come
kill him. Our bad guy is taking over the world. The longer the player
waits, the more towns our bad guy will take over – making it harder
for the player to get information and equipment.
We will, of course, offer the player the time needed to solve the game
and still be able to explore. And the player will get feedback about
6. It’s open ended (well, as much as it can be and still not pull
a Darklands)
The player can go anywhere. He may not have the tools, or the
experience, to handle where he is, or gain access to some hidden or
guarded areas. But the player can explore freely, and return to
previous locations.
The player can wander around the world map, and some areas will be
hidden on this map. These areas will have more monsters, equipment
and maps for the player to encounter and explore.
7. The player will have a goal (goals are good, like shipdates)
The player should always feel like he has something to do. And he
should always have an idea of what that “something” is.
We will help the player from getting lost and confused by offering
them an Adventure Journal. This Journal will take the form of a PDA
Computer (sort of an advanced Newton). It will allow the player to
check his status during the game. Any adventure seeds that the
player is currently following will be noted in the PDA. The player can
play back the cinematic sequences that he has seen from this PDA.
The PDA also records important clues and information offered by
NPCs.
At the beginning of the game, the player will have an immediate goal
– surviving long enough to find the water chip to repair the water
purifier. As the player advances through the game, they will find out
their ultimate goal – stopping the Master from taking over the
Wasteland and turning all the humans into mutants.
At the end of the game, the bad guy will offer the player a job –
working for him. The player can accept, and the game will take this
into account.
A good interface will let the player concentrate on his actions within
the game, not the game itself.
And your character’s intelligence stat will determine what the player
can say. If the character’s IQ is high, the player will be able to select
intelligent lines to say – and the NPCs will respond to this. If the IQ is
low, then the player will lose the ability to say complex lines, and
eventually just be able to say “Duh?” or “What?”. And the NPCs will
react to this as well…
The premade characters will be detailed, and will embody the three
types of players: combat, stealth and diplomacy boy. This will let
some players nitpick their characters to death, or jump right into the
action.
13. We are making this for the public, but we’ll make the
GURPS players happy (it gets pretty ugly when they get too
happy, you need a lot of paper towels)
GURPS Fallout will be a GURPS title, using the GURPS rules. But first
and foremost, it will be a fun role-playing game. It will just happen to
have enough GURPS material to make the GURPSers happy. We must
keep this in mind. The game comes first.
And Finally,