Todd Howard answered quite a number of questions in an extensive Fan Interview over at Bethesda about Fallout 3. First off, despite the inclusions of elements like slavery and drugs, Howard assures us the player will lack the ability to kill children, whether on purpose or accidental. Howard wants the game to sell, and he's pretty sure no one would buy the game if people were allowed to harm em' young'ins. In fact, NPCs will turn on you if you even attempt to harm any kids, got it? Fallout 3 will also feature 40,000 lines of dialogue, up from just several thousand in the original Fallout. There's also three new screenshots of the "Post Nuclear Simulation" posted along with the interview. A summary of what's revealed after the jump, courtesy of X3F:
[Via X3F]
- Armor sets come in two pieces, body and head
- Inventory limit is based on weight
- Children and essential NPC's are unkillable
- Good/Evil karma system relating to in-game choices
- Crimes committed against specific groups are known to all in the group throughout the game world
- NPC's navigate via a mesh instead of via a point to point system like in Oblivion and Morrowind
- Like Oblivion the game uses a skill list and those skills determine maximum possible effectiveness in battle
- Faces are customizable, but not bodies
- The player can crouch and sneak around
- Many of the old Fallout traits return, only now as skill perks
- Fast travel is only available to places you've been before
- Not all non-humans are hostile: "some can be reasoned with and even hired."
- Player "perception" functions like the Oblivion compass
