Fallout 3 Preview

AT: NPC interaction is obviously important. What is your stance towards NPC behavior? Can we expect NPCs to assist players in their quests, other than just giving out information?

GC: Increasing the believability of NPCs is something we aim for with every game we develop at Bethesda. So for Fallout 3, we're taking a lot of pains to keep characters interesting and dynamic even in mundane circumstances. We've added a behavior type that we call a "sandbox package" that allows NPCs to randomly interact with things in their environment. So instead of having to specify exactly what a person does every hour of the day, we can now set them to sandbox and they'll look for activities on their own.

NPCs will assist you in quests, either by giving out information, giving you required items, or joining up with you and helping you out directly. There are a small number of mercenary characters who you can convince to join up, each with their own backstory and individual proficiencies.

AT: Just how open-ended is the game in terms of moral behavior of the main character?

GC: Providing the player with a range of moral options has been a top priority for us since we started. Players should have a variety of ways to role-play their character as evil, good or some shade of gray in between. We look at every quest in the game this way and try wherever possible to support as many different moral outcomes and playstyles as possible.

AT: Can you give our readers some idea of what kind of soundtrack you're working on?

GC: The soundtrack really varies a lot in style depending on what situation you're in. For exploring, the music is more of an ambient and slightly discordant nature similar to the music of Fallout 1 and 2. In battles, the music is more up-tempo and brings in more percussion and some orchestral elements. We also have music for places like dungeons (think old caves and abandoned vaults), and a special set of music for some of the more important locations in the game. We pushed our composer to experiment with a lot of different styles and instruments to keep the music interesting throughout the game.

AT: You've mentioned recently you guys are content with all the feedback that came in after the game's E3 presentation. Are there any plans on a new public trailer or more in-game footage, to give the general public a better idea of what to expect from Fallout 3?

GC: We have lots and lots of plans. Prepare for the future!

AT: Oh hell yes, for when Google's version of Skynet comes online, they actually make fake boobs feel real, and The Federal Reserve issues funds in World of Warcraft III gold. We're ready, baby!