Van Buren (video game)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Van Buren'' was the codename given to what would have been ''Fallout 3'', a
role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
that was being developed by
Black Isle Studios Black Isle Studios is a division of the developer and publisher Interplay Entertainment that develops role-playing video games. It has published several games from other developers. Black Isle is based in Irvine, California. The division was f ...
before the parent company,
Interplay Entertainment Interplay Entertainment Corp. is an American video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by developers Brian Fargo, Jay Patel, Troy Worrell, and Rebecca ...
, went
bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...
. This resulted in the company shutting down Black Isle, which in turn laid off the PC development team on December 8, 2003, effectively cancelling the game. Prior to its cancellation, ''Van Buren'' was set to carry on the ''
Fallout Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...
'' series, but was not a sequel to ''
Fallout 2 ''Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game'' is a 1998 role-playing video game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Productions. It is a sequel to ''Fallout (video game), Fallout'' (1997), featuring similar graphics and ...
''. An official ''
Fallout 3 ''Fallout 3'' is a 2008 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The third major installment in the ''Fallout'' series, it is the first game to be developed by Bethesda after acquiring ...
'', unrelated to the abandoned ''Van Buren'' project, was developed by
Bethesda Game Studios Bethesda Game Studios is an American video game developer and a studio of ZeniMax Media based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was established in 2001 as the spin-off of Bethesda Softworks' development unit, with Bethesda Softworks itself ...
after Interplay sold the single-player rights of the franchise to
Bethesda Softworks Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a division of Media Technology Limited, and in 1999 became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. In its ...
. Several Black Isle staff members went on to form
Obsidian Entertainment Obsidian Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Irvine, California. It was founded in June 2003, shortly before the closure of Black Isle Studios, by ex-Black Isle employees Feargus Urquhart, Chris Avellone, Chris Par ...
, and many themes, factions and characters of ''Van Buren'' were incorporated in Obsidian's '' Fallout: New Vegas'', published by Bethesda Softworks in 2010.


Gameplay

''Van Buren'' was planned to use a modified version of the
SPECIAL Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...
system.


Plot and setting

''Van Buren'' was set in the
Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
, taking place in Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Nevada. The game would have been set in 2253 and the player would start the game as an escaped prisoner; whether the character was wrongfully imprisoned or guilty was to be determined at character creation. The game would have started in a prison as it was attacked by an unnamed force. An explosion would knock the character unconscious, and the cell door would be open when he awakened. The player would then escape into the wasteland while being pursued by assailants. After leaving, the character would have the power to shape the destiny of the wasteland. Their interactions with organizations such as the Brotherhood of Steel and the burgeoning New Californian Republic (with both of these factions participating in a prolonged war with one another) could bolster or destroy the organizations, influencing people associated with them and eventually decide the fate of the region, much as in the previous two ''Fallout'' games. One of the more significant elements of the plot and back story of ''Van Buren'' was to be an ongoing war between the Brotherhood of Steel and the New Californian Republic. The player would be able to visit various prominent settlements and fortresses controlled by either of the factions and their actions there would influence the proceeding of the war. An example of how the player's interactions could alter the flow of the conflict would be in the case of the settlement situated in the area around the
Hoover Dam Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on Se ...
. Here the player could choose whether or not to aid the settlement and its people in a myriad of tasks, which would lead to this isolated frontier outpost eventually deciding the fate of the war. The game's ultimate plot line was planned so that the events in the beginning of the game would have been part of a scheme by a rogue New California Republic scientist, Dr. Victor Presper, to seize control of a U.S. orbital nuclear weapons platform dubbed B.O.M.B.-001 and use it to initiate a second
nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...
, cleansing the world of all but his chosen few. In the end, the player would not be able to stop all of the missiles from launching, and their decisions on where the missiles would strike would ultimately have decided the future of the world. The player would be able to visit places such as
Hoover Dam Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on Se ...
,
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Mesa Verde Mesa Verde National Park is an American national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States. Established ...
and the
Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
.


Development

Prior to the development of ''Van Buren'', two attempts to make a new ''Fallout'' game were halted by
Titus Software Titus Interactive SA,Contact
. Titus Interactiv ...
in favor for other of Interplay's titles, notably console titles. When Interplay lost the rights to make ''
Icewind Dale ''Icewind Dale'' is a role-playing video game developed by Black Isle Studios and originally published by Interplay Entertainment for Windows in 2000 and by MacPlay for the Macintosh in 2002 (both the Classic Mac OS and OS X). The game takes pl ...
'' and ''
Baldur's Gate ''Baldur's Gate'' is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms ''Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign setting. The game has spawned two series, known as the ''Bhaalspawn Saga'' and the ''Dark Alliance'', both taking place mostly ...
'' video games for the PC, their game '' Baldur's Gate III: The Black Hound'', in development by Black Isle Studios, was canceled. With the cancellation of ''Baldur's Gate III'', Black Isle Studio's team was immediately transferred to work on ''Fallout 3'', codenamed ''Van Buren''. During this time, Interplay's own team was working on '' Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel'', the teams had one meeting together to plan out the games. When many of Black Isle Studio's most talented developers left Black Isle Studios, the developer Damien Foletto responded by stating it was only the trust within the team and belief that they could finish the game that kept them going. The game was officially canceled when Titus decided to try to improve Interplay's console division. This led to a nearly completed ''Fallout 3'' being canceled. Members of the Black Isle team were then either transferred to the development of '' Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2'' or '' Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II'', of which only the latter was released.


Legacy


Response to cancellation

''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' named the cancellation of ''Van Buren'' a "heartbreaker", and the site's Steve Palley wrote that "''Fallout'' fans were left feeling like they had gotten a 10 million Rad dose".


Later developments

''
Fallout 3 ''Fallout 3'' is a 2008 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The third major installment in the ''Fallout'' series, it is the first game to be developed by Bethesda after acquiring ...
'' does not follow the storyline of the cancelled project, but during an interview, Avellone revealed that aspects from ''Van Buren'' would make an appearance in '' Fallout: New Vegas''. In particular, the NCR–Brotherhood of Steel war is mentioned, a companion from ''Van Buren'' (Joshua Graham) appears in heavily modified form, as does an antagonistic faction known as Caesar's Legion. He said that the ''Van Buren'' codename was based on President Martin Van Buren. Of the locales planned to be in ''Van Buren'', only Hoover Dam appeared in ''Fallout: New Vegas'', due to the change in location. On May 3, 2007, the
tech demo A technology demonstration (or tech demo), also known as demonstrator model, is a prototype, rough example or an otherwise incomplete version of a conceivable product or future system, put together as proof of concept with the primary purpose of s ...
of ''Van Buren'' was leaked onto the Internet. A trademark was filed for "Van Buren" on October 17, 2014, by Roxy Friday LLC, a company associated with
inXile Entertainment inXile Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and a studio of Xbox Game Studios based in Tustin, California. Specializing in role-playing video games, inXile was founded in 2002 by Interplay co-founder Brian Fargo. The studio ...
.


References


External links


Van Buren
the Nukapedia ''Fallout'' wiki
''Van Buren Portal''
the Vault ''Fallout'' wiki
Interview with John Deiley
(June 2004) {{Fallout Black Isle Studios games Fallout (series) video games Cancelled Windows games it:Van Buren