Fallout 3 had "the opposite of feature creep" because Bethesda devs "were really smart about cutting things" they knew they couldn't do
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Kaan Serin
2026-02-15
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Looking back, Fallout 3 seems like a pretty modest RPG in comparison to the Bethesda Game Studios epics that came before and after, but designer and writer Emil Pagliarulo says that's because the developer was really quick to scrap features that it didn't have the bandwidth to execute during production.
"When I look back at developing Fallout 3, it was a very smart project for us," Pagliarulo remembers of the threequel's production in an interview with Game Informer. "It's fairly small compared to our other games. There's a main quest and miscellaneous quests. There are no factions. You can't join the factions, right? You join the Brotherhood of Steel, but that's the main quest."
In hindsight, Fallout 3 was already a majorly ambitious title for the developer. Bethesda had never made an RPG that also had to double up as an FPS, and it couldn't reuse much of anything from The Elder Scrolls games that preceded it, either, perhaps explaining why the studio was so willing to trim the fat around the project.
Fallout 3 launched with so many bugs because Bethesda was "trying to do so much" and "people get tired" eventually
Fallout 3 feeling like "Oblivion with guns" was only natural, Todd Howard says – it was Bethesda's follow-up to Oblivion
After Morrowind and Oblivion, hardcore RPG fans didn't want Bethesda on Fallout 3
"I remember at one point, our lead animator at the time, Hugh Riley, he made a comment in a meeting that said, 'We have the opposite of feature creep. We have feature seep,' meaning that we were cutting things," Pagliarulo adds. "We were really smart about cutting things, because we knew that we couldn't do it. We were tackling the scale. And so, during development, we felt really good."
Fallout 3 remaster is reportedly still happening as Bethesda aims for Oblivion Remastered-level polish, but personally I think it should aim a little higher
moonphase_
Feb 15, 08:52 PM
Generally not bad.
blueberry.tea
Feb 15, 07:22 PM
This is clear.
UltraKarma
Feb 15, 06:12 PM
I built it. Well, seems pretty decent. &What's your take?
Luna_88
Feb 15, 05:32 PM
I discovered it. Dunno.
Feb 15, 05:02 PM
congrats This is quiet. ok cool.
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