Should Bethesda do Rifts?

[Rali]

Does anyone else who's played Fallout 3 think that Kevin should consider Bethesda if he ever want's to make a Rifts video game?

It's pretty much all there except the magic, but they've done that in the Elder Scrolls game so it wouldn't be much of a stretch combine the two.

[drewkitty ~..~]

I would of like for Square Enix to make a rifts game much like their FF games.

Did you know FF has had their 20th aneversery?

[The Galactus Kid]

Should they? Yes. Will they? Probably not.

[Rali]

Looking at how Bathesda visualized Fallout, I kinda fatasized at how it be to be running around in that wasteland with a Glitterboy armor and fighting CS Deadboys, or seeing a few SAMAS engaged in a battle against a dragon or demon.

It wouldn't be much of a stretch going from Fallout to Rifts.

Should they? Yes. Will they? Probably not.

A guy can dream can't he?

[MDGiest]

Does anyone else who's played Fallout 3 think that Kevin should consider Bethesda if he ever want's to make a Rifts video game?

It's pretty much all there except the magic, but they've done that in the Elder Scrolls game so it wouldn't be much of a stretch combine the two.

I would second this motion! I'm loving Fallout3 so far...being evil has never been so much fun!!!

[Severite]

Im one of those weird diehard fallout fans that everyone hears so much about.......however, with that said, I think they did a good job on fallout 3, and it only had a minimum of Oblivionsisms (small disconnects that ruined for me what would otherwise have been an awesome game, some of which was helped by modding......yay, modding), Rifts actually has a very different feel then fallout universe, not the least of which is its verdant, filled with fauna, and extreme supernatural aspects. With that said, I think they could pull it off, so long as they were willing to rethink they're handling of magic in general.....

[AlanGunhouse]

Bethesda tends to do well. I like the Elder Scrolls.

[Greyaxe]

I always felt Blizzard would do a fabulous job.

[Starmage21]

I want an FPS style adventure game where the main character is a glitter boy!

[Severite]

That would kind of be my other issue......one of the main draws for Rifts is the sheer amount of variety, and it would almost be impossible to incorporate this into a game, much less a visual extravaganza that a FPS style would need, and who wants Rifts lite?

[GlitterKnight]

Nobody wants RIFTS Lite. RIFTS is a Rahu-Man magician powered by awesome stuffed into a Glitterboy (WITH FOUR BOOMGUNS!). No game could deliver it all; except the ones that run on the old Mark 1 Brain; still the greatest FX budget in the Megaverse.

[Lord_Dalgard]

Chello!

the long dead N-Gauge.

Uh, what cell is this on my hip/ Oh, it's an N-gage!

[Lord_Dalgard]

Chello!

Chello!

the long dead N-Gauge.

Uh, what cell is this on my hip/ Oh, it's an N-gage!

Was the Rifts game ever released? Sorry, I never checked because I thought N-gages were 'tarded.

And that would make you a typical American.

And, yes, it was released.

[Severite]

That would kind of be my other issue......one of the main draws for Rifts is the sheer amount of variety, and it would almost be impossible to incorporate this into a game, much less a visual extravaganza that a FPS style would need, and who wants Rifts lite?

That's why you release several different genres of Rift's games at one. An RTS, an FPS, an MMORPG, and a turn-based 5X's game.

Im one of those weird diehard fallout fans that everyone hears so much about.......however, with that said, I think they did a good job on fallout 3, and it only had a minimum of Oblivionsisms (small disconnects that ruined for me what would otherwise have been an awesome game, some of which was helped by modding......yay, modding), Rifts actually has a very different feel then fallout universe, not the least of which is its verdant, filled with fauna, and extreme supernatural aspects. With that said, I think they could pull it off, so long as they were willing to rethink they're handling of magic in general.....

The reason Fallout has a different feel is because it is post-apocalyptic. Rifts is post-post-apocalyptic.


Ok, not sure how quotes work, so I colored your responses red......

Anywho, I disagree, Fallout 3 has post post apocalyptic tendencies as well, though with fewer examples.......though I would argue that fallout 2 is more post post apocalyptic (read, on the mend) then Rifts in any case. However, what gives Fallout 3 its very different and distinct feel is a combination of the lack of any kind of supernatural reference (brain bots notwithstanding), the generally lower tech setting, and 1950's pop culture.....

Which would make an attempt at Rifts a very different animal, not the least of which is their viewpoint on how magic works, and of course would have to build onto the engine to tackle the extreme number of flying item/critters, not too mention handle complexities of tech vs tech, tech vs magic, magic vs magic, magic vs tech, and how they interact with the world. Another change is how Bethesda handles breaking: in theory its an awesome idea, in practice........taking care of your weapon (cleaning, oiling) should in effect make its life worth hundred of thousands of shots, not to mention you should be able to find small parts lying around(say, an armory), and be able to fix them that way. At least we aren't using a hammer anymore to make random repairs in the middle of nowhere, with no other equipment.

As for making multiple genre's, sure, but you have to go with where the interest lies, so, Bethesda would make an FPS style RPG.....its what they do. Finding a RTS concept that I like for Rifts would be very hard, which doesn't you wont like it, but I certainly dont think Kevin would go for it, since it would be hard to make sense, well, minion war/Tolkeen conflict maybe......

Turn based 5x? Dont know it.

MMORPG, thats definitely interesting, but again, same issues as the FPS, with the MMORPG issues tacked on, for me not really a win, but I would defienitely give it a chance.

[Severite]

That would kind of be my other issue......one of the main draws for Rifts is the sheer amount of variety, and it would almost be impossible to incorporate this into a game, much less a visual extravaganza that a FPS style would need, and who wants Rifts lite?

That's why you release several different genres of Rift's games at one. An RTS, an FPS, an MMORPG, and a turn-based 5X's game.

Im one of those weird diehard fallout fans that everyone hears so much about.......however, with that said, I think they did a good job on fallout 3, and it only had a minimum of Oblivionsisms (small disconnects that ruined for me what would otherwise have been an awesome game, some of which was helped by modding......yay, modding), Rifts actually has a very different feel then fallout universe, not the least of which is its verdant, filled with fauna, and extreme supernatural aspects. With that said, I think they could pull it off, so long as they were willing to rethink they're handling of magic in general.....

The reason Fallout has a different feel is because it is post-apocalyptic. Rifts is post-post-apocalyptic.


Ok, not sure how quotes work, so I colored your responses red......

Anywho, I disagree, Fallout 3 has post post apocalyptic tendencies as well, though with fewer examples.......though I would argue that fallout 2 is more post post apocalyptic (read, on the mend) then Rifts in any case. However, what gives Fallout 3 its very different and distinct feel is a combination of the lack of any kind of supernatural reference (brain bots notwithstanding), the generally lower tech setting, and 1950's pop culture.....

Which would make an attempt at Rifts a very different animal, not the least of which is their viewpoint on how magic works, and of course would have to build onto the engine to tackle the extreme number of flying item/critters, not too mention handle complexities of tech vs tech, tech vs magic, magic vs magic, magic vs tech, and how they interact with the world. Another change is how Bethesda handles breaking: in theory its an awesome idea, in practice........taking care of your weapon (cleaning, oiling) should in effect make its life worth hundred of thousands of shots, not to mention you should be able to find small parts lying around(say, an armory), and be able to fix them that way. At least we aren't using a hammer anymore to make random repairs in the middle of nowhere, with no other equipment.

As for making multiple genre's, sure, but you have to go with where the interest lies, so, Bethesda would make an FPS style RPG.....its what they do. Finding a RTS concept that I like for Rifts would be very hard, which doesn't you wont like it, but I certainly dont think Kevin would go for it, since it would be hard to make sense, well, minion war/Tolkeen conflict maybe......

Turn based 5x? Dont know it.

MMORPG, thats definitely interesting, but again, same issues as the FPS, with the MMORPG issues tacked on, for me not really a win, but I would defienitely give it a chance.

Quoting works by hitting the little "reply" button.
Turn based 5X examples would be: Master of Orion, Master of Orion 2, and Master of Orion 3.

Yes, but I wanted to only quote your responses to me, and leave the others out. I have not played any of those three, I take it you would recommend them>?

[runebeo]

I would love to see a Rifts action or rpg game, but Splicers could so easily done using games like Drakan the ancients' gates, Armored Core and Hellgate: London for inspiration. Rifts maybe harder to do with so many classes, tech and spells. I hoped the Rifts movie would have gotten us some toys and video games, guess it's going to be far off now. Well I'm still hoping for Palladium big break to come someday.

[Zer0 Kay]

I think Bethesda would be able to do the best job on it. Square Enix at least the guy who did FF isn't dark enough. While the Eldar scroll guys have a good handle on story telling and the Fallout guys are able to make very dark things funny. So if they're both working together they could make good story about your dog dying in a funny way.

[Rali]

Moding an existing game is one thing, playing a fully developed game is another.

The reason I use Bethesda and their Oblivion/Fallout games is that it's such an open gaming environment where you can follow any number of courses with your character. You can play through the game sticking to the main quest and finish the story in several hours (I think the Fallout 3 record was 73 minutes), or spend 80+ exploring the game world, side quests, and people. You can play the good, bad, or neutral character. You can play the lightly armored stealth character, power armored nuke'm all character, or any number of variations in between.

The idea that I have for the main quest/story would be that you are a father/mother of a loving family living in a generic community somewhere in the wilderness. All is fine with the world until a battle involving the CS and Lazlo (set during the Siege on Tolkeen series) decimates your home and kills your family. At the end of the battle a rift opens up and traps the entire zone in a dimensional pocket universe. You are free at that point to follow your own path in the main quest which would be to return to Rifts Earth. But, do you join the CS, the forces of Lazlo, or fend for yourself and assist either side as it suits your needs? Of course, at the end, you would have the choice to screw over both sides and prevent everyone from returning home.

At least it sounds fun to me...

[Severite]

Fallout is based on the Oblivion engine, and when that went open source for the Oblivion game there were lots of mods you could download for it (like a flying dragon mount and plenty of "battle bikinis" for the ladies).

And from what I understand the magic effects of Oblivion are sill in the engine of Fallout 3. You just have to start using them.

Just wait for the game to be out a few years, and you will get mods for it.

Yes, there were mods (and they already have a few that have been hacked into the .esp format that Bethesda uses for the engine), my point is that Oblivions magic system, while definitely still in the code, is entirely and utterly unsuitable for Rifts, or, really any game that has long term viability. To explain, assuming I never level (sleep), max out all my magic skills, and front load all the mana I can get, I will be the most pwerful creature in the game. On the otherhand, if I level, I eventually end up at a point where it is retardedly hard to kill things.....since my mana never increases (on a permanet basis, most I could achieve was around 350? or so, and that stayed that way from level 1 to 77), so while I can get more powerful spells (since everything is unilaterally leveled) it is effectively impossible to cast the "fingers on the mountain" spell I was awarded at level 76, as it did awesome damage, range, etc, but at a cost of 1163 mana, it's unusable. By anybody.

Well, I dont remember seeing any flying mounts, but I also am not claiming to have seen even a sizable portion of total content made for the game, so its possible I just missed it.

And, yeah, its nitpicking, but they have not and probably never will release the source code, though they did release the construction set, which I cant wait to see for Fallout 3.

Basically, the level scheme for Oblivion is abysmal, and ruins a lot of logic and fun. They changed a lot from what ruined Oblivion for me, though there were still a few vestiges that were jarring.

Course, Im assuming your post was even directed at mine, so anywho......

[Balabanto]

Personally, I think that the company you are looking for is Atari.

The Temple of Elemental Evil engine is the way to go, since you actually have to record negative actions and the like. Plus, Temple, once patched, was a great game. I don't think realtime combat is the way to go, and I think turn based combat will do far more for the game as a whole. Your problems are range and distance. If a Glitter Boy can be two miles away, how much space do you need?

[Rali]

Personally, I think that the company you are looking for is Atari.

The Temple of Elemental Evil engine is the way to go.

Atari was only the publisher. Troika Games (interestingly enough, founded by three Fallout creators) developed ToEE.

Unfortunately, Troika went belly up in 2005.

I also felt that ToEE was the epitome of tabletop gaming moved to digital role playing. To bad it was only single player...

[Rali]

You guys realise that a company like Bethesda is not going to make Rifts, right?

Of course. Just some wishful musings.

[Severite]

And discussing it, for sheer entertainment.

[RoadWarriorFWaNK]

I would rather Black Isle do it.

[Dog_O_War]

EA would be the best company to do it. It would seriously feel like playing rifts, as their Battlefield lines have covered all possible options (jetpacks, tanks, planes, choppers, giant robots, ATVs) AND their games are full of bugs and exploits - just like RIFTS

[dark brandon]

Rifts would probably make an awesome FPS, so the guys who made Halo!

[Rali]

I would rather Black Isle do it.

Their gone too. It seems that all the good studios have folded or been bought up (and then cannibalized).

EA would be the best company to do it.

Gack, not EA.
EA is like the Slugroth; fat, bloated bastards that enslave the good guys. They need to be split just like Ma Bell back in the 80s.

...their games are full of bugs and exploits - just like RIFTS

LOL

Rifts would probably make an awesome FPS, so the guys who made Halo!

I'd rather have the guys who did Robotech: Invasion (Vicious Cycle Software)

[Shorty Lickens]

Nobody wants RIFTS Lite. RIFTS is a Rahu-Man magician powered by awesome stuffed into a Glitterboy (WITH FOUR BOOMGUNS!). No game could deliver it all; except the ones that run on the old Mark 1 Brain; still the greatest FX budget in the Megaverse.

I agree.

I would love a good Rifts video game but after seeing Oblivion and Fallout 3 I honestly dont think Bethesda could do it right, and I would only play it if it were done right.
Since Black Isle is out of business there is NOBODY else who has the potential for making a Rifts game. Unless a bunch of programmers who also love role playing games banded together, formed a small company, and just made a Rifts video game. And if they ever sold out to Atari or EA we would all be screwed.

Much as I hate MMO's I think the only way we could get the proper scope of a Rifts game is if it were such a beast. MMO's have more regular updates and expansions than any other genre. All they would have to do is spend a buttload of time working on a single region (probably start with North America) and then add one region at a time as its popularity increases and they have the profits to do it. Unless they made highly detailed worlds based on Rifts geography it would be a waste of resources.

The other issue with online games is all the projectiles flying around. Rifts is mostly going to have shooting action and I dont know if internet speeds and latency would be able to support a good firefight with lots of people.


And in reference to the other posts I do think that Fallout 3 has a pretty decent similarity to Rifts Earth, only without the magic and cyborgs and such.

[Severite]

And in reference to the other posts I do think that Fallout 3 has a pretty decent similarity to Rifts Earth, only without the magic and cyborgs and such.

Well, the biggest difference is in conception, Rifts is green wilderness, Fallout is a bombed out shell. Fallout has near campy vault and 50's era setting with FEV and PA being the only 'enhancements', Rifts is ultra high tech with human augmentation as a main plot device. Rfits is incredilbly filled with magic, and generalized supernatural phenomena, FO is a gritty, dark, Sci-fi, almost entirely free of anything not tech based, brainbots, and the master notwithstanding.

[General_Failure]

I'm already getting started working on a total conversion for Fallout 3.

I'm trying to gather up people to work on the project, coders, modelers, texture artists, level designers, voice actors, etc, etc.

My plans are big, but I feel that once the G.E.C.K is released in december things will go a lot smoother.

Just to show people I'm dead serious about this I'm already working on the Juicer harness, where it automatically kicks you into juiced mode when danger is present, slowing the world around down letting you run up to them and punk them how ever you want and not using VATS

Things that are going to be a pain in the arse are sure to follow like adding magic back into the game, psionics, and of course figuring out a way to do RCC/OCC, so the character can't be a walking god running around with psionics and magic in glitter boy/girl armor unleashing the book of ten. But I am scrapping DC first chance if the G.E.C.K has a map editor and I'll probably build Free Quebec and have the story happen there, as it has a lot of stuff to do, is a good size and a perfect place to erect a story.

Also if you think you have something to contribute or just want to see what we are doing you can check us out over here, Clicky

I've worked on and released a mod before for quake 3, however now that the days of compiling are pretty much over I feel work will go A LOT smoother, and the fact the game can use ESP files we can piece it together in the end no matter how many people are working on different things.

[Nekira Sudacne]

I've seen some of Fallout 3...I don't really think it's accurate for a Rifts game.

Maybe places like Detroit...but by and large it's not how I picture an average rifts town/city, which is probablly all new.

[Shadowfyr]

sorry if this has been mentioned i kinda just skimmed through the topic.

But an idea i've always envisioned for a Rifts game is an MMO.

Heres why:
In MMO's the game can always be expanded on with things like patches, content updates, and even expansions. Which can further interests, story, quests, etc.
Though the downfall i do see being encountered is the amount of races/occ's/pccs/etc. But with a decent amount of those or those that are most commonly interested, this can be no problem for a base and just incorporate other dimensions/creatures/etc as NPC's for the players to encounter.
No idea of a company that would be best chosen to do it, but creating the world in an mmo wouldnt be as hard or limiting as it would be if set into a console. Best example i can relate to it is World of Warcraft. Pretty much 4 country sized pieces of land to explore. (Kalimdor,Eastern Kingdoms,Outland,and Northrend). Making an Earth like world and creating everything from North america all the way around to Japan and Europe, or even incorporating Dimensional planes of existance as more playable areas is more feasable and doable.
And another great thing about MMO's is that you dont have to create everything at once! You create the base areas you'd like to have exist in the beginning process and then start releasing content updates creating new and more playable zones.


...~ Well this is just a little bit of the thoughts that i've had about a possible functioning rifts game that would be awesome to me to see happen.

[runebeo]

Fallout 3 has a good Rifts feel to it and if they could add Oblivion magic system and work in some robot vehicles, there would be a great start to a Rifts game.

[Shadowfyr]

Just cause its named and themed after Rifts doesnt necessarily mean that the world wont play it.

If a company can make a cool looking, smooth playing, decently graphic'd, good story, and nice gameplay type of game then anyone will play it, in this case people would be able to learn that it originated from a table top game which could then lead to more sales on books, even if people just want to see/read them or even compare armors and bots in the game to the ones from the books. etc.

its a whole circle of possibility.

[Rali]

Well, the biggest difference is in conception, Rifts is green wilderness, Fallout is a bombed out shell.

WTFLOL? Do you think the CS plants a forest after every battle? Of course there are bombed out areas on Rifts Earth.

However, I never meant that a Rifts game should be Fallout 3 with the Rifts logo slapped on it. I'm just saying that the way Bathesda built the Elder Scroll and Fallout games with their large environments, open story progression, hundreds of places to explore and people to meet, made me feel that they might be the best option for a company to work on a Rifts game.

However, just like the problem Kevin had with Disney on the Rifts movie, he'd have to deal with that all over again with Bathesda. So I really don't believe it will ever transpire.

The best thing that could happen is for a new group to come along and do what Backbone did with Rifts: Promise of Power.

[Severite]

Well, the biggest difference is in conception, Rifts is green wilderness, Fallout is a bombed out shell.

WTFLOL? Do you think the CS plants a forest after every battle? Of course there are bombed out areas on Rifts Earth.

However, I never meant that a Rifts game should be Fallout 3 with the Rifts logo slapped on it. I'm just saying that the way Bathesda built the Elder Scroll and Fallout games with their large environments, open story progression, hundreds of places to explore and people to meet, made me feel that they might be the best option for a company to work on a Rifts game.

However, just like the problem Kevin had with Disney on the Rifts movie, he'd have to deal with that all over again with Bathesda. So I really don't believe it will ever transpire.

The best thing that could happen is for a new group to come along and do what Backbone did with Rifts: Promise of Power.

Actually, that is a rather small quote if I remember correctly, but, even so...........no, the CS doesn't plant trees after every battle, but, assuming it is a spring/summer season over the course of weeks there can be a huge increase of over growth. Part that we disagree on is that you think Bethesda had a good impletation. With that said, I agree with your points, they make very nice environments that are freely traversible, that there are a large variety of places to explore, and well, not a point of yours, but they make their games easily moddable, which means that given enough time, the parts that are weak can be brought up to standard.
So, yeah, we would end up with more quests that have huge plot holes (

Spoiler:

Wait, the origional inhabitants die anyway, even if you kill all the ghouls. No, no, Im completely immune to radiation, and, indeed, have served as a major plot point on that ability, I have sworn to follow you wherever you may go(thanks for setting me free), but its your destiny to go into the radioactive chamber of death and die! Or make the chick die in your place, yeah, thats cool too. Did I mention that I am only available as a follower to someone with a good karma?

), and otherwisehas annoying jounces that propel you right out of the story, which is odd, given that the source material FO2 has a good number of self referential points of humor, and manages to annoy me less. On the other hand, I fully agree that it kicks Oblivions butt in that it has much better continuity, and less everyone can do everything thing. I want my choices to matter, whatever they may be. But on the other hand, as long as they were willing to release a construction set, they can build the world, and I will make it playable, as I now have a game Im thrilled to play with all my modifications to widen the gap between Oblivion, and Fallout. So, all my argument? Out as long as they can provide on that one point.

[mellowmaveric]

For a Rifts Game. Techno-wizardry would be especialy intresting with somthing similar to the schematics for home made weapons in fallout 3. Scrolls for magic obviously. Start out in North America. With Chi-Town and the burbs and lazlo for starting locations depending on your starting OCC. With Human, Dog-Boy, Elfs, Dwarves, Psi-Stalkers and one other race for the initial races for the mmorpg. Dragons are too powerful and out of the question and prety much any mdc race and you dont want to start the game with too much variety so people can get used to the basics and then expand with future releases. As for starting classes i would have to say dead boy with being able to specialize in certan fields, line walker, burster, mind melter, burster, cyber-doc and headhunter. For some you could obviously save up for cybernetics and get them improved over time. There would be a large selection of weapons and eventualy run weapons. Magic enhancements, chemical enhancements, plenty of credits to be made. For coalition forces you get a bonous from HQ for how many D-Bees, mages or other undersirables you either aprehend or kill and adding up to rank so you could eventualy reap benifits from the chain of command. Among the ranks of the coaliton would obviously be humans dog boys psychics (who had limits placed on their powers but gained a trade off with better weapons and equipment) and psi-stalkers and the coalition would have its own medics in the deadboy ranks so they would not need cyberdocs. Now it would be posible to get some black market modifications and gear provided you had high enough rank and you could trade for a lower rank to have an item not normaly avalible. On the flip side those starting in lazlo would have a wider array of selection but not as good condition and on the lower end of the damage scale unless you shelled out buco credits. Mages would get their standard spell progression but by spending a lot of credits or going on special quest chains you could gain aditional spells. You could accept contracts for various missions or roam the countryside looking for things to take on. Eventualy the war on tolkien could be brought in to play, atlantis, germany, south america etc you get the idea. while power armor would be relativly feasible robod suits would be dificult because they usualy have multiple people piloting it. the multitude of weapons in rifts though would be intresting to see done. also imagine the ammount of xp/hazard potential by camping out by a rift. for juicers in fights i would think of somthing akin to bullet time for their enhanced reflexes in such situations.

[mellowmaveric]

Also juicers would probably have to constantly search for drugs because i dont see that harnes having everything in it to last for 5 years. And also would juicers have a ingame lifespan of five years to keep it in synch with the game? and would it be 5 years of active game play or 5 years from character activation?

[Dog_O_War]

Juicers would be done like this;

They are a class, and the game does not register time in a traditional sense - this is the most logical outcome. They wouldn't need to "search for drugs", it's simply a forgetable class feature. Maybe there might be a variant take on the game where Juicers can shoot-up different drug-sets to temporarily become a Juicer variant. That is, a certain type of drug would offer the hyperion upgrade, increasing speed, attacks, etc... While another would be a mega upgrade, putting the Juicer on near-invincible for a time-period. The drugs wouldn't stack, and would likely be exclusive when used.

As for dragons - they'd end up with some crappy psuedo-RCC that has nothing to do with aging. Either that or they'd "magically" age at each level-interval.

When it comes right down to it though, this would not make for a great MMO; it would be much better as a single-player RPG or a shooter (complete with vehicles and junk).