Fallout 3
An open world post-apocalyptic role-playing game.
Where Fallout 3 comes up1 episode or test
- Player-triggered changes only
- Example: Megaton destroyed
- Nothing moves on its own timeline
- Runs on a clock
- World moves regardless of your choices
- Suits cosmic indifference
Fallout 3 makes the player the cause of change
From Design note: Fallout 3 vs Outer Wilds
What was said about Fallout 3
Fallout 3's world changes only when the player's choices change it. Megaton being destroyed is the example of a world state that shifts because of what the player did. Nothing moves on its own timeline.
Breath of the Wild's Tarrey Town works the same way. Outer Wilds is the contrast: it runs on a clock so the world moves on "regardless of your choices, progress, or even your existence," which suits a theme of cosmic indifference. Fallout 3's player-triggered design does the opposite and makes the player the cause of change.
Clockwork Games and Time Loops
Its world changes only in response to player choices, such as Megaton being destroyed, which contrasts with the indifferent clock of Outer Wilds.
Fallout 3's world changes only when the player's choices change it. Megaton being destroyed is the example of a world state that shifts because of what the player did. Nothing moves on its own timeline.
Breath of the Wild's Tarrey Town works the same way. Outer Wilds is the contrast: it runs on a clock so the world moves on "regardless of your choices, progress, or even your existence," which suits a theme of cosmic indifference. Fallout 3's player-triggered design does the opposite and makes the player the cause of change.
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