Black Isle Studios' planned version of Fallout 3, codenamed "Van Buren," was canceled in 2003, followed shortly by the studio's dissolution. It remains a great "what-if" of gaming. The financial decline of parent studio Interplay was likely terminal by this point—the subgenre of complex, isometric RPGs reached the nadir of their popularity in the early 2000s, going dormant until their revival with Pillars of Eternity and Divinity. While there was no saving Black Isle itself, the project they were working on has captured Fallout fans' imaginations over the years.
A tech demo and 700-page design document leaked in 2007 and served as a competing vision to license-owner Bethesda's official Fallout 3. Van Buren looks like a weird, cool, expansive, and reactive roleplaying game. It doesn't hurt that much of the setting and lore formed the basis of the much-beloved New Vegas.
Enter game developer Adam Lacko and his Project Van Buren. Since 2017, Lacko has been building off the aforementioned tech demo and design document to create a complete version of Van Buren in the Unity engine, to be released for free. Lacko has been writing much of the project's code himself, as well as consulting with former members of Black Isle. In Lacko's own words, "Project Van Buren aims to recapture and preserve this visual presentation to the pettiest detail, staying true with the intended course of its original makers."
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A tech demo and 700-page design document leaked in 2007 and served as a competing vision to license-owner Bethesda's official Fallout 3. Van Buren looks like a weird, cool, expansive, and reactive roleplaying game. It doesn't hurt that much of the setting and lore formed the basis of the much-beloved New Vegas.
Enter game developer Adam Lacko and his Project Van Buren. Since 2017, Lacko has been building off the aforementioned tech demo and design document to create a complete version of Van Buren in the Unity engine, to be released for free. Lacko has been writing much of the project's code himself, as well as consulting with former members of Black Isle. In Lacko's own words, "Project Van Buren aims to recapture and preserve this visual presentation to the pettiest detail, staying true with the intended course of its original makers."
Canceled Fallout RPG from 2003 is being resurrected
Fallout 3 was supposed to be an isometric RPG.
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