Questions and Answers on Operation: Anchorage for Fallout 3Published January 27, 2009 Recently, Eric Haddock of the Games for Windows team was able to score some time with Jeff Gardiner, the producer of Fallout® 3, and asked him some questions regarding the new Operation: Anchorage expansion available for the game. The excitement level is high for this add-on to a hugely popular game, and we're sure Xbox® players will be interested in the background behind this new downloadable content (DLC). Browse Fallout 3 content on Marketplace. Inspiration A: The inspiration for Operation: Anchorage came from the Fallout canon. The Fallout world is fleshed out well beyond what is actually seen on the screen—a trick J.R.R. Tolkien used with The Lord of the Rings as well. Fleshing out a world, beyond what is at first perceived, creates a great sense of wholeness, or completion. It allows the alternative world to live and breathe beyond the boundaries of the stories' scope that the player experiences. So, we mined one of our favorite pieces of Fallout lore: the Liberation of Anchorage from the Chinese.
It's time to liberate the city of Anchorage. New Ideas and Development A: We've dug out a small fighting pit in the middle of the dev area … In all seriousness, we had a big team meeting where we allowed people to pitch their ideas. Devs came with art, story pieces, whole slideshows—and we picked the top three from there. These ideas came after the game was in a fully playable state. Everyone on the team playtests the game for hours and hours. After doing so, you see missed opportunities. Or, you see ways to tie things together that weren't apparent when you were building the game. That's why our DLC is often so experimental; it allows us to really get down and pull ideas from the dark corners and give them a chance to live on screen. Each of the DLC takes about months to create. After the first one, the code support is minimal so there isn't much to them technically—it's all asset creation. Continuing the Fallout Experience A: I think we are doing drastically different things, but they're all within well established boundaries both from Fallout 3 itself and the canon at large. They blend well within the original game because that's the source of their inspiration.
It's a cold, but beautiful, world. Again, since we're using the source material, the challenge lies within appealing to a player's expectations. For instance, we decided with Operation: Anchorage to try a more straightforward story and experience. There is still a questline, of course, but the bulk of the gameplay is combat-oriented. It allows the player to have fun with our combat system, especially VATS, without worrying about managing ammunition or health to the same extent they have to while wandering the Wasteland. Operation: Anchorage Content A: Operation: Anchorage begins with the player picking up an Outcast distress beacon. Once they find its source, they'll be asked to interface with a pre-war simulation pod by using their Pip-Boy, in order for the Outcasts to open a safe filled with unique pre-war technology. The simulation takes them to Anchorage, Alaska, where they're asked to help liberate the city from Chinese invaders. They'll encounter new enemies, including a "Screw Tank," and acquire new weaponry including a scoped energy weapon called the Gauss Rifle. The cost of the DLC is 800 points.
The Gauss Rifle looks like a sweet piece of weaponry. Easy or Hard A: In order to make Operation: Anchorage both accessible and challenging to players at any level, it will scale in difficulty based on the level the player is when they enter the simulation. We thought this would be the lesser evil; otherwise the scenarios you describe would occur, which would just end up frustrating players needlessly. Access A: After installing Operation: Anchorage you'll get both a new quest (with an objective marker), and a message box making you aware of a new radio signal. Levels A: The third DLC, Broken Steel, will raise the level cap to 30 as it removes the game's ending and includes a bevy of new perks to go along with it! Quests A: All of the DLC includes new quest lines! Our second DLC, The Pitt, will be a bit more extensive in terms of choices and dialogue than Operation: Anchorage, but Anchorage has some great gameplay that really lets our combat systems shine. First Things First A: Just listen to the radio broadcasts and head to the objective markers!
Ready to roll. Difficulties A: The quest lines themselves are always the most difficult in terms of the number of iterations, including dialogue polish and bug finding. On the art side, new characters take the bulk of our time. You need to concept them, create a skeleton, mesh, and then animate them. Not to mention balance them in the game itself. They're also the most rewarding—they have a huge impact on the game. We're introducing a Screw Tank in Anchorage—a massive vehicle that fires arcing electricity and propels itself on large, well, screws! The Pitt will showcase the Trogs—mutated human beings that hunt in packs and run on all fours. Q: Is there any part of the content that was very easy to make or was it hardly changed at all from the concept to release? A: Nothing falls into the "very easy to make" category. Some things take less time, certainly, like a wooden box or a non-speaking NPC. The setting of Anchorage has stayed the same from concept to release, but honestly that's about it! What's Next A: There are three pieces of DLC planned for release this year. Operation: Anchorage will go live Tuesday January 27. In subsequent months, we'll be releasing The Pitt and Broken Steel. Platforms A: Some technical hurdles as the production pathways were still being finalized but that process had been made very easy due to help from the good folks at Games for Windows - LIVE. Q: Are you going to make any content specific for Games for Windows - LIVE players or for the PC version of Fallout 3, or is content going to be equal among platforms? A: The content will be equal on all platforms. Interview by Eric Haddock |
