Fallout, then Fall Over: Guide Creation Blog 02
A spine an inch thick, and Vault-Tec Approved: Two choices to help in your Capital Wasteland roaming.
Part 02: Meanderings and Overview
I initially received my first build of the game on May 25th, which is when all major social activity (never a major concern for a strategy guide author) was curtailed, and my trip into the Capital Wasteland began. After booting up the PC and 360 versions, I began an intensive, week-long “cursory” play-session, and spoke at length with Pete Hines and Jeff Gardiner at Bethesda about what they wanted the reader to gain from the guide. They deluged me with pile after pile of internal wiki information, and allowed me to bombard the team with a variety of questions, most of which were variations on the “yes, I just discovered this, and it’s freakin’ awesome” theme.
Workload-wise, this guide took approximately 120 days to construct (And that’s not including the sterling work of others who commenced map-making, design, corrections, approval, and printing), and my personal involvement (authoring, screenshots, and doctor visits for more blood-pressure medicine) was approximately 1,100 man-hours. No, I’m not kidding. But I do have a shockingly thorough knowledge of the game, which was great when I wrote it all down in guide form, but is now sloshing uselessly about in my brain, waiting to be forgotten about. I must have about 650 game saves. And time spent actually playing the game? I’d say around 500+ hours. This was by far the most complicated, gigantic, and madcap guide I’ve ever been involved with, and I loved every minute of it.
Once the first week of intensive gameplay was over, I realized – with a creeping sense of both excitement and horror – that I’d only grazed sections of the game, but I’d been having such an entertaining time building the custom weapons, fiddling with skill and perk combinations, finding devious methods to circumvent the “expected” strategy in a quest, and tried a few of the billions of other lunatic things you can attempt… that I didn’t mind. After some talks with the team at Bethesda (who remained steadfastly patient, enthusiastic, and helpful throughout my Wasteland odyssey) we’d already agreed on the breakdown of the strategy guide. Here’s what the final guide encompasses:
A comprehensive contents page and Foreward by Todd Howard.
A Training section where I mined the brains of designers at Bethesda, and offered meticulous advice on Attributes, Skills, Perks, the dangers of the game world, main tactical advice on V.A.T.S., information on Followers, and (naturally) a complete list of every weapon, outfit, item, Chem, Stimpak and Foodstuff in the game. I love stats, so we got a table with elements like fire-rates, ammo-clip totals, and everything the more deranged gamer needs to figure out which selecting the correct weapon to bring to a Ghoul massacre.
Next up, was a Factions and Bestiary, where the major warring forces of the game got an official back-story, and every single irradiated beast, mutation, and abomination received a thorough inspection. Can you check the health of a Super Mutant, compare it to the damage your favorite boomstick does, and then calculate how many shots it takes to kill one? Most certainly. There’s stats-aplenty.
Chapter 3 and 4 concerned the different Quests you undertake during the game, all of which are optional. These two chapters alone were large enough to be their own strategy guide, and every Karmic effect, Skill or Perk you can utilize at a pertinent point, and all the different outcomes are shown. Yes, including all the endings. Naturally, to avoid massive rage-filled forum posts, Spoilers are flagged throughout. Copious screenshots and Vault Boy iconography were used, as well as flowcharts. Oh yes, lovely, easy-to-read flowcharts showing every main route to try, and the rewards for trying for every single Quest in the game. The flowcharts (dotted throughout the chapters) take up over 30 pages on their own. Did I mention this game is big?
Then matters took a turn for the deranged, as I embarked on Tour of the Capital Wasteland. This sightseer’s guide ballooned into a 200+ page section, but includes maps of every single exploration point, and the major ammunition caches, items – and “other bits” I can’t mention – and an overview map modeled after your Pip-Boy’s. There are major and minor locations, each with a number and a coordinate to ease the cartographically limited. May I suggest a few hours’ study of the insanely dangerous and labyrinthine D.C. Interior and linking underground tunnels? These were mapped at great cost to my sanity over a period of three weeks.
Accompanying this Tour is a double-sided, movie-sized poster pinpointing every single location in the Capital Wasteland. I recommend studying it for a good 15-20 minutes to let it all soak in. I’ve never played a game with more locations that needed to be pinpointed correctly.
Tucked at the back of the book are the endings, so it’s wise to skip past those pages and gaze at the 20+ Appendices, which basically give you Achievement advice, and locations of everything even vaguely seen as “collectible”. Precise locations are shown, and a month’s worth of cross-referencing work went into all of it.
Decided to purchase the special Pre-War Collector’s Edition? Then, aside from a Hardback cover and a bigger map poster, you get an extra section packed with exclusive art, team interviews, additional team tactics, easter egg information, a half-dozen “Wasteland Wanderers” showcasing the entertaining and sometimes frightening way some of Bethesda’s team cultivated their characters, all finished off rather pleasantly by an Afterword by Moira Brown. Who’s she? Owner of the Craterside Supply, don’t you know.
Ready your coffee table for reinforcement; the Pre-War Collector’s guide clocks in at 498 pages.
Come back next time, where we reveal a little more information, and you’ll realize just how much of a job sabbatical you’ll need to take to make a dent in this behemoth of a game.
Hi i was wondering what your paper quality is like? I’ve had guides which have had wafer thin paper and ink which comes off as soon as you touch it. I’m a collector so i like to keep them in good condition. So is the paper good quality of not? Thanks. I’m buying it either way, just want to know what to expect as it seems good value for money.
Wow…. and i thought my job was stressful.
seriously, just trying to close your eyes without seeing fallout must be considered a major feat in life.
the Guide sounds VERY well developed and very useful. I love the idea of having damage to HP stats.
that way i will know just how many bullets to put in my pocket before i go on a raid!
Great work! Cant wait!
I feel sorry for you. I am so buying the collector’s edition, better reinforce the coffe table, and my thigh bones might break while reading this.
when does the guide come out?
I have already pre-ordered the Fallout 3 Collector’s Edition: Prima Official Game Guide,Fallout 3: Amazon.com Exclusive Survival Edition and a extra Fallout 3 DVD all PC additions. After reading that Bethesda Softworks is not having intrusive DRM in on there game caused me to go out Pre-order another game as a thank you for them thinking about us gamers. As long as they always provide games without the intrusive DRM. I will always be there customer. Bethesda Softworks thank you for being better then those other software companies.
This sounds great, already pre-ordered aswell. The collectors edition. Just wondering though, will it fit into my lunchbox with all the other goodies? That’d be great!
So, the version pictured on the right is the Pre-War Collector’s Edition? Does it come with the Collector’s Edition of the game, or only by itself?
Almost 500 pages! Damn. And I thought Air Force training manuals were bad. I’m definitely buying the collectors edition for all those goodies but mostly for the hard back cover. Soft cover guides don’t last too long with me. I don’t know about everyone else but I thank you and your team for the work you have done on what must have been the most tasking, but greatly appreciated, guide to date.
Firstly, thanks for all the kind responses. Here are the answers that I’m able to provide:
KariG:
Both guides should feature excellent ink and paper quality. Bethesda and Prima wouldn’t have it any other way. If you go to a local game store and check out a Zelda Twilight Princess guide, I’d use that as an example of the Pre-War Guide’s “quality”. Although the Fallout 3 guide has a different cover treatment, and is thicker!
Jeffrey:
The guide is available at exactly the same time as the game – October 28th. If you’re going to a game store to purchase the game, the initial shipment of the guide should be there.
Darim:
The guide is the “usual” dimensions for a strategy guide, so you may have trouble squeezing it into that lunch box! I recommend a Follower to carry it….
Patriot:
The guide on the right is the Pre-War Collector’s Edition of the guide. The Collector’s Edition of the game is different. They are separate.
Decoy:
Yes, the hardback cover (which features some great “war torn” elements to it – you’ll love the back cover, too… won’t spoil the surprise, but you’ll crack a smile!) was created with more of a longevity plan in mind.
Also note that all of the maps that appear in one place on the poster, also appear throughout the Tour chapter, too. Hopefully I’ll be back with a bit more information shortly. Cheers!
SothothYog
I just wanted to say thank you so much for making such a informed guide. I have already preordered the collecters edition and paid it off. I just love to read the guides and at nealry 500 pages long I will have a whole lot to read. Thank you so much for doing that I hate it when you get a guide and its really short and theres not alot of info in it. So thank you for all your hard work it is well appriciated thank you again.
i will take a copy of the uniquely designed one on the right!!!
i hope the guide is designed like vault-tec made it . make it look authentic. kind of like the way that the nuclear survival guide fallout 3 gave out at PAX.
cool thanks for response im gonna buy it after like 2 weeks of playing the game as not to ruin it at all. looks like a great guide!
sry for double posting but are the two on top different?
MRCNRY
In terms of design, the guide (which was designed by Prima and Bethesda) has elements of this. It looks similar in some ways to the official Fallout web-site. So yes, it shares some elements, but has to be functional too.
Jeffrey
Yes, aside from the cover, there are some differences between the two guides.
1. The “Pre-War” Limited Edition guide has a hardback cover.
2. It has a larger map poster.
3. It has an additional chapter at the rear of the book with interviews, easter eggs, art, “wasteland wanderers”, and an Afterword by Moira Brown.
4. It has a different “inside front/back cover” treatment.
Regarding strategies, the rest of the book is the same.
Hope that helps.
Cheers
SY
cool thank you for responding again cuz i am like dieing for fallout 3 i have like no money and have beenh trying soooooooo hard to get smoe but i cant cuz i need an xbox 360 to play cuz the graphics card costs like 300 bucks for my pc so i gotta wait for a dreaded 76 days be4 i get it its like all i think about and breathe and basicly my new life!
Just wondering on what kind of price range are we talking about i am going to get the guide when i pick up the game i just don’t know how much to bring.
Man, your life rocks.
Hi!
My name is Jessika!
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later ..
Hi there, what entice you to post an article on ut, then Fall Over: Guide Creation Blog 02 at Prima Games Author Blog? This article was extremely interesting, especially since I was searching for thoughts on this subject last Thursday.
good post!
The subject of a very wonderful and distinct.
I thank you for continuing excellence.
Thank you.
cool thanks for response im gonna buy it after like 2 weeks of playing the game as not to ruin it at all. looks like a great guide!