Good news for those who care about multiplayer post apocalyptic shooters. 2 Dawn Games is developing one at the moment.
Ravaged is a first person shooter online multiplayer game set upon a post-apocalyptic earth devastated by natural disasters caused by the sun's solar flares. It chronicles the struggle between the “Resistance” and the “Scavengers” as they fight one another in order to gain an upper hand in an ongoing war for survival, territory and resources.
In general, the Scavengers are an outnumbering, oppressive, murdering group of lawless criminals that wish to claim all land and resources for themselves. They will stop at nothing in order to accomplish their goal.
The Resistance is a group of resistance fighters hell bent on restoring civilization. These civilians were able to seek shelter as the world succumbed to natural disasters during the year 2012, taking with them precious goods and weapons while the criminals and less fortunate lived off the land.
The website features some renders and concept-art showing the characters, vehicles and a map with a cute Statue of Liberty's head rolling in the sand.
GameInformer has published a brief video segment with Feargus Urquhart on the way Obsidian and Bethesda view the Fallout universe, and how the differences in their views played out in the development of Fallout: New Vegas.
Just as the vanilla release itself and all of the downloadable content (minus the item packs), the Ultimate Edition of Fallout: New Vegas has gotten a trailer, available on Youtube as always:
In case you are asking yourself what the soundtrack to the trailer is, that's "Home on the Wastes", sang by lead designer J.E. Sawyer (and in-game by the Lonesome Drifter).
As expected, the settlement between Bethesda and Interplay returns the rights of FOOL to Bethesda, who now have full rights to all Fallout material except for sales of the old titles (this will expire at the end of 2013). In return, Interplay - who were not likely to win the case - gets $2 million.
FALLOUT® MMO RIGHTS RESTORED TO BETHESDA SOFTWORKS® IN INTERPLAY LITIGATION
All Fallout® Intellectual Property Rights Belong Exclusively to Bethesda
January 9, 2012 (Rockville, MD) –ZeniMax® Media Inc. today announced that a settlement had been reached in the lawsuit filed by its subsidiary, Bethesda Softworks®, against Interplay Entertainment Corporation in 2009, Bethesda Softworks LLC v Interplay Entertainment Corp., seeking cancellation of the license granted to Interplay to develop a massively multiplayer online game (MMO) based on the Fallout brand. Bethesda maintained in its complaint that Interplay had failed to meet the conditions for the license and the license was therefore of no continuing validity.
Under the terms of the settlement, the license granted to Interplay to develop the Fallout MMO is null and void, and all rights granted to Interplay to develop a Fallout MMO revert back to Bethesda, effective immediately. Interplay has no ongoing right to use the Fallout brand or any Fallout intellectual property for any game development. ZeniMax will pay Interplay $2 million as consideration in the settlement, each party will bear its own costs of the litigation, and Bethesda will continue to own all Fallout intellectual property rights. Interplay will be permitted to continue to sell the original Fallout ®Tactics, Fallout® and Fallout® 2 PC games through December 2013, after which time all rights to market those games revert to and become the sole property of Bethesda. Under the original agreement pursuant to which Bethesda had acquired the Fallout property, Interplay was granted certain merchandising rights to sell those original Fallout games, but those merchandising rights will now expire on December 31, 2013.
The lawsuit against Interplay arose after Bethesda Softworks acquired all Fallout intellectual property rights from Interplay in April 2007, and conditionally licensed back to Interplay certain trademark rights to make a Fallout MMO, provided Interplay secured $30 million in financing for the MMO and commenced full scale development of the game by April 2009. Bethesda alleged in its complaint that Interplay failed to meet either condition of the license back agreement but refused to relinquish its license and insisted it would develop a Fallout MMO. Bethesda filed suit to declare the license void.
In a separate but related matter, Bethesda commenced a second action against a purported developer of the Fallout MMO, Masthead Studios, Bethesda Softworks LLC v Masthead Studios Ltd. In the course of the original lawsuit against Interplay, Interplay had claimed that it had engaged Masthead Studios to develop the Fallout MMO under its license, and contended that Masthead was engaged in full scale development of that game. Bethesda filed its separate lawsuit against Masthead to assert copyright infringement and other violations of Bethesda's intellectual property rights. Under the MMO license granted to Interplay, Interplay was not permitted to sublicense any rights granted without the prior approval of Bethesda, approval which had never been requested or granted. In responding to Bethesda's lawsuit, Masthead denied that it had been using any of Bethesda’s intellectual property in developing an MMO. Masthead and Bethesda settled that second lawsuit on December 29, 2011. In the settlement, Masthead acknowledges it has no legal right to use any Fallout intellectual property, and agrees it will not use any such intellectual property of Bethesda in the future. No payments were made by either party as part of this settlement. The two settlements resolve all pending litigation over the Fallout intellectual property owned by Bethesda.
Robert Altman, Chairman and CEO of ZeniMax, expressed satisfaction on behalf of the Company with the resolution of the two lawsuits saying, "While we strongly believe in the merits of our suits, we are pleased to avoid the distraction and expense of litigation while completely resolving all claims to the Fallout IP. Fallout is an important property of ZeniMax and we are now able to develop future Fallout titles for our fans without third party involvement or the overhang of others' legal claims."
Following the purchase of the property, Bethesda Game Studios, the 2011 ‘Studio of the Year’ and the development team behind the 2011 ‘Game of the Year’, The Elder Scrolls® V: Skyrim™, developed Fallout® 3. ZeniMax Media’s publishing subsidiary, Bethesda Softworks, published Fallout® 3, a highly acclaimed sequel which won ‘Game of the Year’ honors in 2008, for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and Games for Windows. Bethesda also published the popular title, Fallout: New Vegas®, in 2010 for the same platforms. Fallout: New Vegas® Ultimate Edition, which will include the original game and the award-winning downloadable content in one special package, is planned for release by Bethesda in early 2012.
About ZeniMax Media Inc.
ZeniMax Media is a privately owned media organization headquartered outside Washington DC with international offices in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Eindhoven, and Tokyo. Through its subsidiaries, ZeniMax Media creates and publishes original interactive entertainment content for consoles, the PC, and handheld/wireless devices. ZeniMax Media divisions include Bethesda Softworks, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, Arkane Studios, Tango Gameworks, MachineGames Sweden, ZeniMax Europe Ltd., ZeniMax Asia K.K. and ZeniMax Online Studios. For more information on ZeniMax Media, visit www.zenimax.com.
About Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda Softworks, part of the ZeniMax Media Inc. family of companies, is a worldwide publisher of premier interactive entertainment software. Titles featured under the Bethesda label include such blockbuster franchises as DOOM®, QUAKE®, The Elder Scrolls®, Fallout®, Wolfenstein® and RAGE®. For more information on Bethesda Softworks’ products, visit www.bethsoft.com.
About Bethesda Game Studios
Bethesda Game Studios is the award-winning development studio known around the world for its groundbreaking work on The Elder Scrolls series. Creators of the 2006 Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion®, and 2008 Game of the Year, Fallout® 3, Bethesda Game Studios has earned its reputation as one of the industry's most respected and accomplished game development studios. Bethesda Game Studios’ latest game, The Elder Scrolls® V: Skyrim™, released on 11.11.11. Skyrim earned numerous nominations and awards at this year's E3, including being named 'Best Console Game' and ‘Best RPG’ by the official Game Critics Awards and has been awarded more than 200 perfect review scores. For more information on Bethesda Game Studios, visit http://bgs.bethsoft.com.
Interplay is allowed to continue the V13 MMO project per the original contract, but they will have to remove all mention of Fallout and Fallout-like material.
1.1.2012
* Logan's Loophole modified to cut the player's advancement off at 20th level. I know that ruins the reference but...
* Broad Daylight level prereq from 36 to 24, Sneak 70 prereq added
* Certified Tech level prereq from 40 to 24, Sneak 90 prereq added
* Just Lucky I'm Alive, Thought You Died, Ain't Like That Now prereqs from 50 to 34.
* Gum Drops from 1.0 to 0.25 weight.
* Bubblegum from 1.0 to 0.1 weight. Wow!
1.2.2012
* Reverted XP halving to address more comprehensively through iXPBase and iXPBumpBase
* iXPBase set to 275 (from 200) & iXPBumpBase set to 200 (from 150) - Increasing required XP by a little more than 1/3.
* Lowered base player HP (before any bonuses) from 100 to 50.
* Reverted fPCBaseHealthMult change as it had no obvious effect.
* Lowered fADVHealthEnduranceMult from 15 to 10.
* Vanilla F:NV HP formula: 100 + (End * 20) + ([Level - 1] * 5) -- JSawyer HP formula: 50 + (End * 10) + ([Level - 1] * 5)
* Sierra Madre Martini HP bonus dropped from 75 to 40.
1.3.2012
* Adjusted Dale Barton's, Lacey's, and Little Buster's Caravan decks.
* Reduced weight of non-Salisbury Steaks (Coyote, Dog, Gecko) from 1.0 to 0.8
* Switched all Pre-Order items to be sold at Chet's store. Nothing is given to the player outside of what Doc Mitchell hands him or her.
* Switched all Pre-Order message boxes to corner messages.
* Unique Pre-Order item prices raised to slightly above their non-unique counterparts.
* Mercenary's Grenade rifle weight dropped from 5.5 to 5, health bumped from 100 to 120.
* Mod slots removed from Weathered 10mm Pistol.
* Metal Armor and Lightweight Metal armor Health set to 200.
* All Raider armor weights dropped from 15 to 7.5.
1.5.2012
* Merc Outfits all given two bonuses: one weapon skill at +10, one non-weapon at +5. The exception is Merc Charmer: three non-com at +5.
* Normal Merc Outfits all given 3 DT.
* "Unique" versions have "Reinforced" added to front of name. Value from 50 to 1200, DT set to 8.
* Raider armors all given misc bonuses. Unique versions have those bonuses + weapon skill bonuses.
* Leather and Reinforced Leather Armor weights dropped from 15 to 9. Gecko-Backed to 9.5.
* Raider armor healths dropped from 100 to 75.
* Adventurer: +5 Science, +10 Energy Weapons
* Charmer: +5 Barter, +5 Speech, +5 Medicine
* Cruiser: +10 Melee Weapons, +5 Sneak
* Grunt: +10 Guns, +5 Repair
* Troublemaker: +5 Lockpick, +10 Explosives
* Veteran: +5 Survival, +10 Unarmed
* Painspike: +3 Critical Chance
* Sadist: +15 Health
* Badlands: +10 Action Points
* Blastmaster: +20 Fire Resist
* Sharp-Dressed Raider's Armor: +3 Crit, +10 Guns
* Hand-Me-Down Raider Armor: +15 Health, +10 Melee
* Highway Scar Armor: +20 Fire Resist, +10 Explosives
* Psycho-Tic Helmet: +5 AP
* Arclight Helmet: +10 Fire Resist
* Blastmaster Helmet: +10 Explosives
* Wastehound Helmet: +10 Radiation Resist
* Bogeyman's Hood: +15 Radiation Resist
* The Devil's Pigtails: +8 AP
* Pyro Helmet: +15 Explosives
* All unique Merc and Raider armors and helmets added to Mick's store
* Emily Ortal's dialogue fixed so the 6 PE check is run on the Courier. Now you too can know the gross sexual history of Emily Ortal.
* Removed pic of VAULT MOM AND DAD from Vault 21.
* Metal Armors from 30 to 20 weight.
* Gecko-Backed from 33/35 to 23.
* Lightweight Metal Armor (Pre-Ord) to 15 weight.
* Most Medium armor weights lowered.
* Armor of the 87th Tribe weight lowered to 25 lbs.
* Armored Jumpsuits to 8 weight.
* Sierra Madre armor to 8 weight, Reinforced to 9.5
* MM Scout Armor to 7 weight.
* Vault 34 Security Armor to 9.5 weight.
* Lobotomite Jumpsuit to 5 weight.
* Hazmat Suit to 8 weight.
* Assassin Suit to 8 weight.
* Chinese Stealth Armor weight to 7, bonus to Sneak now +25.
1.8.2012
* Created WithAmmo forms for the 5.56mm Pistol and Battle Rifle.
* Placed 5.56mm Pistol and Battle Rifle on various drop lists.
* Apocalypse Gladiator Armor DR from 0 to 17. Weight to 22. VAL to 3500.
* Apocalypse Gladiator Helmet VAL to 700.
* Shellshocked Combat Armor and Helmet revised.
* Road Rascal Leather Armor revised.
* Wanderer's Leather revised.
* All-Purpose Science Suit weight from 2 to 6.
* Followers Lab Coat given 8 DT. VAL from 16 to 1000. "Reinforced" added to the end of the string.
* Recon Armors given +15 Sneak. Christine's COS Recon Armor given +20 Sneak. Recon Armor effect string renamed to "Recon Armor".
* Metal Armor -1 AG enchantment replaced with -15 Sneak enchantment.
* Salvaged NCR Power Armor given -10 Sneak instead of -1 AG
* Power Armor Training carry weight bonuses halved from old (mod) values.
* Commando Armor revised to be Metal Armor, Reinforced with a +20 Sneak bonus.
* Shellshocked Combat Armor + Helmet and Composite Recon Armor + Helmet added to Nellis munitions vendor.
* Other unique metal/leather/raider/merc armors split between Cliff Briscoe and Mick.
* .308, .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum drop rates increased in Military Footlockers in Old World Blues.
* Flamer Fuel weights halved.
* (GRA) suffix removed from all GRA ammo subtypes.
* (GRA) suffix removed from GRA weapons that have base game equivalents (e.g. Baseball Bat)
* All standard weapons with moddable GRA equivalents given all GRA mods.
* Instances of standard Assault Carbine Mags and 12.7mm Silencers removed/replaced with GRA equivalents.
* Weapons (now) lacking GRA suffixes removed from the Master of the Arsenal challenge weapon list.
* Weapons like the Battle Rifle, Bozar, Katana, Tin Grenade, etc. retain the (GRA) suffix for challenge/achievement/trophy purposes.
* Fixed incorrect icons for Ballistic Fist, Displacer Glove/Pushy, and Zap Glove/Paladin Toaster
You can find the new version of the mod at the usual link.
Have you ever thought about what Doctor 8's voice sounded like, or what his true personality is? I can infer from the Courier's friendly responses and the fact he carries a Meeting People magazine he is (or was) very social, but the other doctors say that they "like him better this way".
Dr.8's current state in the game is the way I envisioned him in the first place - 8 being abstract was largely the point (and not that anyone ever wants to hear developer reasons for things, but it also cut down on resources and localization, since his "voice" didn't need to be localized or translated, so it was a low-impact way to get another colorful character in the mix without taxing our limits), and I think it makes him more sympathetic to be voiceless - much like ED-E and Dogmeat and other silent companions who stick with you - you can impose your own voice and personality on the little bits they give you (Seth McCaughey, one of our animators on the DLC, did all the ED-E's animations for DLC4, just like he did with the Think Tank chassis, and that did more to create emotion than anything I can write - especially the animations when Borous in DLC3 breaks down at his own memories). I feel the critiques of the other Think Tank regarding 8 are probably unfair in their negativity, and if they disliked his previous personality and voice, it may be because he was less annoying and more practical than anyone else. It's a mystery.
How does Mobius remember that he wiped his own memory? Are the memories erased at the discretion of the wiper, or does the act of erasing not get erased? Also about Mobius, how does a Think Tank ingest chems like Mentats, which you have to chew?
Mobius is able to reflect back on a number of his own bizarre actions that on a surface level, he can't recall easily - for example, he claims he was tripping on Psycho when he sent the threats to the Think Tank, but when questioned and queried, the real underlying logic of what he did reveals itself to him. Also, like the Think Tank, Mobius isn't a reliable narrator and what he claims to have forgotten isn't always correct when he puts his mind to it and walks back down memory lane - it's just a matter of focusing him (the more you speak to him in DLC3, the more focused he gets). Plus, in terms of reliability, he's had -many- experiments that haven't had the results he thinks they've had.
We can consider the FOOL settlement to be confirmed, but we're still waiting for details. Doc 167 made its way to NMA's hands, though its contents are sealed for now, so what's actually in it won't be revealed until later.
"Full docket text for document 167:
-SEALED-Joint MOTION to Seal to Temporarily Seal Joint Motion to Dismiss With Prejudice by Bethesda Softworks LLC Responses due by 1/23/2012 (Attachments: # (1) Joint Motion to Dismiss With Prejudice, # (2) Exhibit 1, # (3) Text of Proposed Order)(Stahl, Howard)
To explain: it's a joint motion, so this is coming from both companies. The seal is temporary, so the joint motion will make its way to us eventually. And finally, "dismiss with prejudice" means the case is dismissed permanently, neither company is able to bring it to court again with the settlement concluded.
"Responses due by 1/23/2012" means what you would expect it to mean, that is the deadline for both companies to respond. According to our source, Interplay first response is due on the 9th.
Duck and Cover is reporting the FOOL case has been settled, apparently since the very first days of the trial, and they received word weeks ago. Curse and Wikia's Fallout wikis, despite usually getting the same news DaC does, are not reporting any such thing, and Raging Bull's stockholder forum makes no mention of it, so take this with a grain of salt for now. We'll keep you posted as updates come in.
EDIT: Ausir confirms, so consider is confirmed. Details to be revealed later this month.
As part of their Fashionably Late column, which analyzes slightly older games "in an environment where prices are cheaper and hype is quieter, focusing on insightful analysis rather than consumer advice", the folks at True PC Gaming have tackled Fallout: New Vegas. After playing for roughly 250 hours with a small selection of mods they call it a "true RPG experience", and praise its handling of inter-faction politics and world building. Here's a snip:
You can’t save everybody. Because of inter-faction politics, someone’s always getting screwed. By you. I slowly began to notice that pushing for an independent New Vegas meant pushing out the people who were best for it. Because almost all of this world it is left in stasis before the player’s meddling, I became its representative. I was the person to blame for its successes and failures. Though the game was revolving around me, it wasn’t empowering me.
New Vegas is depicted dispassionately, and that’s one of the game’s biggest criticisms. It may also be its biggest strength. Its alphabet soup of acronyms (the NCR, NCRCF, Big MT) hammers home how unexciting these factions are supposed to be, but I relished in it. The storyline has no urgent goal breathing down your neck, no pressing tension hurrying you to finish the main quest. If you can accept the Legion, there isn’t even a real antagonist. Instead, the goal is something remarkably pure and almost innocently “game”ish: to simply experience New Vegas. The main quest mereley has you traveling across the Mojave to try to understand the various tribes and factions that inhabit it. One by one, you become entrapped in their society and face their problems, then express your thoughts about them to the secretary back at your office. Ultimately, the final goal is to simply experience the battle at Hoover Dam and watch a credits sequence explain what you did to influence its aftermath.
In case you don't want to wait for the Ultimate Edition, Fallout: New Vegas is now 75% off on Steam, for 4.99 USD/EUR, with each DLC at 2.49 USD/EUR. You can also get the whole Bethesda package including New Vegas, all its DLC and Fallout 3: GotY for 75 bucks.
J.E. Sawyer, project director on Fallout: New Vegas and its Honest Heart DLC, had already told us through his Formspring account that he was working on a mod for his personal playthroughs and would be releasing it for interested people, something that promptly happened today, without much fanfare. Here's the link to the mod (which requires all Fallout: New Vegas DLC to work) and some bits from the "changelog" he wrote on Formspring:
* Max level with all DLCs installed is 35.
* XP rate is halved.
* Base player health is quartered and level-gained health is reduced by 25%.
* Base Carry Weight from 150 to 50 (related perks/things have also been adjusted).
* Energy Weapon ammo weighs less than its nearest equivalent Guns ammo.
* Energy Weapon durability is in the same ballpark as Guns durability.
* Medium Armor has a small amount of DR proportional to its DT.
* Heavy Armor has even more DR proportional to its DT.
* Power Armor does not require a perk, but if you have the perk, the weight of the armor is essentially negated.
* Karma/Alignment values adjusted all over.
* H2O/FOD/SLP rates doubled, but the first threshold is moved from 200 to 400 (statuses roll over ever 150 after).
* Water and Food drop rates on NPCs is dramatically lower. It is difficult to stay out of Dehydration/Starvation by looting enemies.
* Water/Nuka-Cola/Sunset Sarsaparilla heal much less, but now all restore H2O (alcohols will as well, but at lowered values).
* Default Stimpaks are uncommon. A new variant, Stimpak, Expired is the default. It is not that great.
* The player's Workbench recipe now makes Stimpak, Homemade. It is better than Expired, worse than default Stimpaks, and has the PE penalty from Healing Powder.
* All Stimpaks have weight.
* Pre-Order items have been adjusted to be more well-balanced and not worth that much if you rush to Chet's to trade them in.
* A bunch of fixes I couldn't make during development because of load order conflicts, time, etc. E.g.: Automatic Rifle spread re-adjustment, putting the Police Pistol on the Cowboy List, Bozar on Grunt, Junk Rounds are now actual ammo variants you can make, etc.
* Some other stuff.
[...]
* fKarmaModKillingEvilActor from 100 to 5
* fKarmaModKillingVeryEvilActor from 2 to 30
* All (known) Feral Ghouls set to Neutral alignment
* Colonel Moore Alignment changed from Neutral to Evil
* Colonel Hsu Alignment changed from Neutral to Good
* Dam Centurion Alignments changed from Evil to Neutral
* Doctor Usanagi Alignment changed to Very Good
* Dixon Alignment changed from Neutral to Very Evil
* Jean-Baptiste Cutting Alignment changed from Neutral to Very Evil
* Gloria Van Graff Alignment changed from Neutral to Very Evil
* Alice McLafferty Alignment changed from Neutral to Evil
* Alice McBride Alignment changed from Neutral to Good
* Squatter Alignments changed from Neutral to Good
* The King's Alignment changed from Neutral to Good
* Contreras' Alignment changed from Neutral to Evil
* Westside Citizens and Militia Alignments changed from Neutral to Good
* Gomorrah Prostitutes Alignments changed from Neutral to Good
* 1E Junkies' Alignments changed from Neutral to Good
* Michelle and Samuel's Alignments changed from Neutral to Good
[...]
Why can't you just add your changes to the game in an official patch?
The short technical reason is ".esm inter-dependencies" and "load order errors". Sorry.
In addition to technical reasons, some of the mechanics changes make the game significantly more difficult (base health / stim changes) or at least more of a hassle (carry weight, stims having weight, H2O/SLP/FOD rate increase). I'd rather have people opt-in to those changes than make them the default in a patch.
Finally, the game's over. The ship has sailed. No one is working on it anymore. No testers, nothing. This mod is just me working in my free time. If I horribly botch something, you can just un-check the mod and go on your way.
Do you plan to reintroduce the armored vault 21 jumpsuit in your mod? If so, would it be by crafting or found?
Yes. It is for sale in Sarah's store at Vault 21. Both it and the Armored Vault 13 Jumpsuit now use the RepairVaultSuit list and have 200 CND. The Armored Vault 21 Jumpsuit grants 12 DT, +1 LK, and costs 2000 caps.
The Bethesda vs Interplay FOOL case has gone on for longer than expected, and there hasn't been much to report (we had court files pass by noting the Fallout Trilogy subcase was dropped, which was nice but not hugely newsworthy, but now you know). The Vault now reports Bethesda is filing to seal parts of the case, which could indicate a settlement in the works, which certainly wouldn't surprise anyone.
Bethesda have filed a motion to seal parts of their ongoing case. It is my understanding that this is SOP when there are serious settlement talks going on.
We don't have any more news at the moment as to what the deal may be. Interplay officially have until the 9th of January to respond to the motion. Interplay also have their long awaited earnings report that has been delayed many times now currently due on the 4th. So we're hoping for an update somewhere around those dates, or perhaps sooner if settled.
Mutants Rising is a project you should all be familiar with by now. It is one of the last FO2 TCs announced (2003) in the golden days of Fallout 2 modding to survive. This is the second demo released.
As promised, the new demo of Mutants Rising is live now!
The demo comprises the complete first location of the game, with all of its quests and characters. It also includes several of the new game features we introduced, most notably the overhauled healing system. We hope the demo will give you a good taste of what the mod is going to look like in the end, and that you will like it.
To get your hands on the demo, you can either download the Smart Installer version, or the Manual Install pack:
* Smart Installer - Download the file on your hard drive and double click on it. When the Installer window appears, choose "Install" and follow the instructions on screen.
* Manual Install - If the Installer doesn't work for you for some reason, or if you're already familiar with installing Fallout 2 mods, you can try the Manual Install. Download the ZIP file into your Fallout 2 installation directory and unpack it there. A new folder should appear, named "MutantsRising". Go inside it and read the readme for the remaining installation details.
We're anxious to have your opinions, so make sure to check out our forums here on NMA and on our website, so you can leave comments. Should you find any bugs or have any questions, please post them in their respsctive threads on the forum too. Have a good time with Mutants Rising!
Steam is having daily sales as they usually due in the holiday seasons. Among today's sales: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.! Specifically, Shadow of Chernobyl is €2.49 or $4.99, Call of Pripyat is €3.49 or $3.74, and Clear Sky is €2.49 or $2.49.
The Game Creators Vault has a video interview with "Planetscape" Torment and Fallout developer Chris Interview. It's a general interview, but it has numerous Fallout-specific questions, opening with talking about New Vegas.
The case over FOOL was already supposed to be over by now, having started December 12th and estimated to last two and a half days (by Interplay). Still, while we're waiting on word what the ruling actually is, a few more documents have made their way to us from the trial. This is mostly old news, but let's go over it again...
First are exhibits 36 and 38, which are the evidence Interplay submitted to prove they fulfilled the financing requirement of $30 million USD. 36 is a production agreement between the Interactive Game Group and Interplay for the production of an unnamed game whose costs "do not exceed $15.0 million and are not less than $0.5 million". 38 is the development agreement with Masthead for the production of "Project: V13" on the PC platforms, the tasks of Masthead including programming, art and design, with Interplay handling the concept art, the majority of design and producing for project oversight, audio broken up into music/voice over (Interplay) and sound effects (Masthead) and cinematics into storyboarding/post-production (Interplay) and modeling/rendering/animation/special effects (Masthead). It also offers details on the royalties but cites no numbers on Interplay's claim that Masthead's side of the bargain "represents" $20 million for the minimum financing agreement.
The outline of Bethesda's claims once again goes on about Interplay not having the right to use any Fallout copyright material except the name Fallout, and I think it bizarre that they keep pushing this angle. That said, Bethesda also claims Interplay did not fulfill one of the requirement of the Asset Purchase Agreement, which would be a breach of contract if true, specifically that Interplay did not deliver "all tangible embodiments" of the purchased IP.
Interplay breached Section 2.5 by failing to deliver to Bethesda all tangible embodiments of the Fallout copyrighted works. As will be shown at trial, evidence establishing Interplay’s breach of contract includes, but is not limited to, purported design documents produced by Interplay in this case.
No comment there since I have no details on the claim. More interesting, Bethesda offers a stack of evidence that Interplay did not fulfill the minimum financing requirement, and rebuts Interplay's claim on I2g's financing as Frederic Chesnais (owner, founder and sole employee of I2G) has testified that "there is no binding agreement between Interplay and I2G to provide financing to Interplay for the Fallout MMOG" and also that I2G "considered providing no more than five or six million dollars of financing to Interplay for the Fallout MMOG". As for Masthead's side of the deal, Bethesda points out the court ruled that Interplay "was precluded from offering any Masthead employees as witnesses at trial" or "call any Interplay witnesses to testify about any of the work purportedly done by Masthead". The reason being:
THE COURT: . . . you [Interplay] are not calling any Masthead folks because you have not given the names in discovery, you did not do it timely in response to interrogatories that were sufficiently br[oad] to have required the identity of anybody at Masthead who has knowledge of or participated in the full scale development.
(...)
MR. GERSH: Your Honor, that is the Masthead. I am talking about the Interplay people prior to April of 2009.
THE COURT: You can talk about what they did themselves not what anybody at Masthead did.
Taking the above into account, there is pretty much no chance Interplay will win this case on the merits of having fulfilled the contract stipulations laid out by the license back agreement.
That said, Interplay's claims are taking another angle entirely. It is using Bethesda's rather ridiculous Fallout in name only claim to expound that there was no "meeting of minds" on the terms of the parties' agreement, which by Delaware law would make the contract nul and void (Bethesda states this lacks merit because the written and signed contract is in itself conclusive evidence of mutual assent).
Specifically:
Specific language intrinsic to the TLA objectively supports Interplay's reasonable interpretation. Yet BSW contends the same language shows that it intended something entirely different: that Interplay's Fallout MMOG should be just a word on a box.
(...)
Delaware law provides that the TLA is void and unenforceable if the Court cannot objectively determine what rights were conveyed under the TLA. If the TLA is void, the APA also is void and should be rescinded because the TLA is a material term of the APA. If the TLA itself is too indefinite to bind the parties, the APA suffers from the same infirmities because it incorporates the TLA as a material term, as if it were set forth in full within the APA. The TLA, because it is invalid, also constitutes an unfulfilled condition precedent to Interplay's sale of the intellectual property.
Interplay points out section 3.4 of the TLA clearly indicates Interplay is given the right to use Fallout-related concepts by the specification that such concepts may not be carried over to a non-Fallout MMO. However, all this hinges on - as the file states - the TLA being invalid "if the Court cannot determine what Interplay was licensed to do." I see no reason for the Court not to simply throw out Bethesda's Fallout-in-name-only claim, and the claim is the only real basis of Interplay's defense here.
Also as a side-note, Bethesda has "dropped as affirmative claims the packaging arguments and the marketing arguments concerning the earlier Fallout games", as in the argument concerning the Fallout Trilogy, though it is not immediately clear if Interplay will still use them as arguments of bad faith.
It appears like Fallout: New Vegas has managed to snatch another award, with its Science!-themed DLC Old World Blues winning in the "Best DLC" category at the Inside Gaming Awards, in which it was pitted against candidates such as Street Fighter IV - Arcade Edition, Portal 2: Peer Review and Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam.
You probably already heard about Naughty Dog's PS3-exclusive The Last of Us, but in case you didn't, we should at least mention it as another upcoming post-apocalyptic game. A short description from the developer:
"Abandoned cities reclaimed by nature. A population decimated by a modern plague. Survivors are killing each other for food, weapons; whatever they can get their hands on.
Joel, a brutal survivor, and Ellie, a brave young teenage girl who is wise beyond her years, must work together if they hope to survive their journey across the US."
Duck and Cover offers the results of the motion in limine hearing. Their summary:
1. The burden of proof is on Interplay to prove 3 things.
A. it has a trademark and copyright license
B. it was in full scale development
C. It had secured funding of 30 million.
2. Interplay is not precluded from presenting parole evidence.
3. Interplay is not precluded from presenting evidence showing minimum financing and full scale production.
4. Affirmative defense of mistake will not work for Interplay.
5. Bethesdas witness can be at the trial, but can only testify as to what an mmo is and what it entails...he cannot comment on what Interplay has done.
6. Trial will be at 9:30 A.M. on Dec 12
7. Interplay thinks it will take 2 to 2 1/2 days for the entire trial.
