This afternoon Bethesda announced that a mission editor for Fallout 3 is now available to download. But that's not all...
If the toolset announcement wasn't enough for fans to salivate over, IGN recently conducted an interview with Bethesda's Jeff Gardner who in turn spilled the beans about January's DLC, Operation Anchorage. Apparently, the DLC will allow players to experience the famous Liberation of Alaska from Fallout lore via a virtual simulation, and will require the player to secure the surrounding mountainside from the Chinese red army. But because the scenario takes place in a simulation, players will be stripped of any prior weapons and items save for the ones used in the DLC.
But according to Gardner,the downloadable content will actually offer new, unique weapons, armor and"other exotic gadgets" as well as an interactive Strike Team that players will command. "Operation: Anchorage focuses mainly on a combat/stealth path," he told IGN in the interview."It's important to our team to use DLC as a way for us to flex our creativity, to try new things and answer the "wouldn't have been cool if we did this?" question that always comes up towards a games completion; when it's too late to try them! Don't worry, we're trying something a little different with all of our upcoming content so there will be plenty of the morally gray, multiple path quest lines everyone loves the franchise for."
Gardner also stated that players will be able to access the new content in-game via a map marker and a new quest objective. Because the Liberation takes lace before the devastation, players will experience a bright, frozen tundra rather than a desolate waste. Gardner also said that Bethesda plans to release an update for all platforms before the downloadable content is released,addressing issues discovered by fans and posted on the forums. Operation Anchorage will cost 800points (Xbox Live, Windows Live) to download, and should take around five hours to complete.
Gardner also briefly mentioned The Pitt, the second DLC planned for Fallout 3, that takes place in Pittsburgh. Broken Steel, the third DLC also planned, will actually raise the level 20 cap. "This will be accompanied by new foes, perks and all of the other Fallout 3 staples our fans expect," he said.
Also today was news of the Garden of Eden Creation Kitofficially available to download, offering tools for fans interested in creating user-made mods for the hit RPG game. Additionally Bethesda launched the GECK Wikito offer instructions on how to set up the toolset and create content. Current topics include Layout and Using Kits, Optimizing your Level, Creating a Basic Quest and more.
"Users can create, modify, and edit any data for use with Fallout 3, from building landscapes,towns, and locations to writing dialogue, creating characters, weapons,creatures, and more," says the GECK website.
The toolset is a meager 8.47 MB download, and can be accessed from Bethesda'swebsite, FileFront and Atomic Gamer.
