Old World Blues Available Now!

[BreakingBacks]

Beginning yesterday, you can purchase New Vegas’ latest and greatest DLC, Old World Blues, on Xbox LIVE, Steam, and PSN. To get you ready for all the crazy fun, here’s a short diary from Old World Blues’ lead brain, Chris Avellone.

http://bethblog.com/index.php/2011/07/1 ... ble-today/



Take it away, Chris!

There is an expression in the wasteland called “Old World Blues.” It refers to those obsessed with the past they can’t see the present, much less the future for what it is. Their eyes are like pilot lights, guttering and spent, the realities of their world continuing on around them as they stare into the past.

Old World Blues is built around the history of Fallout games we’ve worked on. It’s history-that’s-created-history, with a dash of what might have been from past games, media, and design documents from Fallout 1, 2, and past Fallout projects given new life. From Lobotomites, DNA splicing, Cazadores, Night Stalkers, where-the-hell-did-those-plants-in-the-Mojave-come-from, the scientific enclave of Big MT itself, Proton weapons, and giant robotic scorpions, all of these things formed the nucleus of taking a trip into the past-is-present Fallout universe to see a slice of the Old World that’s been fenced in and feeding on itself for far too long. We wanted you to see the context and homages to the Fallout universe in a scientific preserve, both from the distant Fallout past to more recent adventures in New Vegas and the DLCs. As you’ll discover, Big MT (or the Big “Empty”) is filled with what-might-have-been… and all that was lost that potentially could have made a better world for all. There’s an undercurrent of the blues all around Big MT… but if you’re strong enough, you can change it, and the whole meaning of Old World Blues forever.

Designing Old World Blues was an adventure in itself. It involved taking a trip down memory lane, both in terms of past games and also in terms of 1950s sci-fi cinema to get the exaggerated “Science!” feel, where a great many inventions were atomic and anything nuclear promised amazing things for the future. Usually with an exclamation mark. Over the course of Old World Blues, we watched and paid respect to some of the 50s science fiction films from Brain from the Planet Arous, Things to Come!, Forbidden Planet, When Worlds Collide, the Deadly Mantis, Tarantula, the Mole People (although we pushed some of that out for the next DLC), the Monolith Monsters, and more. There’s also a little Wizard of Oz thrown in for good measure… although it’s in the Fallout context.

Most of all, the goal of the design was to provide a scientific playground for players, giving them gear, characters, items, gadgets, and as a bonus, a new home. And it’s not just a home – it’s a base they can upgrade, outfit, build up, grow items, and easily travel back and forth to – and even better, it’s a place filled with friends you can talk to when you’re feeling down or just need to chat. Take whatever you want to the Big Empty from the outset (there’s no gear restrictions, nor is your gear taken away), and once the adventure is complete, you can travel back and forth there whenever you want. So have fun, explore, and see a new slice of the Mojave wasteland that’s been waiting for someone new to crack it open.

While you’re there, however, you’ll learn the Big Empty isn’t solely about history. Inside are several nods to the future as well, and more on events to come. While the Big Empty’s a great place to visit, there’s still one more road for the Courier to walk.