Fallout Van Buren (Fallout 3 by Black Isle Studios)

[Still Under Construction]

Van Buren is the codename Black Isle Studios assigned to their second iteration of Fallout 3. Developed by Black Isle Studios, it would have been published by Interplay Entertainment. On the 8 December 2003, the game was officially cancelled along with the closure of the studio.

History & Development
Black Isle Studios planned to include a dual-combat system in the game that allowed for the player to choose between real-time (Bethesda Softworks' Fallout games and Micro Forté and 14° East's Fallout Tactics) or turn-based combat (Fallout and Fallout 2) but real-time was only included due to Interplay's demands. The game would have used the Jefferson Engine, similar to Baldur's Gate 3. The game's emphasis was turn-based play, and cooperative multiplayer was planned for inclusion. On December 8, 2003, the game was canceled due to financial difficulties at Interplay Entertainment. [ citation needed] [Add Chris Avellone quote from YT channel]

Stages & Versioning of Van Buren
Van Buren had gone through multiple phases of development throughout its life cycle. On the surface the Van Buren design documents may appear to describe one single game but that could not be further from the truth. Having originated as a PNP campaign by Chris Avellone to its late final development by the remaining staff at Black Ilses Studio, the game itself had gone through a lot of changes. In a way, it can be said that there are Four Versions of Van Buren. The way it can be broken down is to this:

The first inception (First Stage) of Van Buren was its PNP campaign that Avellone made when he wanted to playtest the story and world before that started making the game. Here a lot of elements were fleshed out but the main story was vastly different compared to the later adaptions. It was here Caesars Legion played a bigger role in the story. Also Victor Presper was called Matthew Presper, a scientist from the pre-war era who was frozen in a cryo-chamber, only to awaken into the post-apocalyptic world. Tibbets was actually Leavenworth Prison – located in the actual spot of the real Leavenworth Prison which is all the way in Kansas. Big Empty still existed as well and even elements of the Twin Mother was around but incepted as a raider gang at first. Even more so story elements that his players performed were saved, such as a group of PC prisoners escaping on a train and ramming through a Legion Camp in Circle Junction. And of course Ulysses was present as well (The AI).
 * 1) First Stage – Avellone’s PNP document of Van Buren
 * 2) Second Stage – Avellone’s conversion of the PNP document into a video game version
 * 3) Third Stage – Sawyer’s adaption of the documents [After Avellone had left Interplay]
 * 4) Fourth Stage – Husge’s & Foletto’s adaption of the documents [After Sawyer left had Interplay] (Note: Interplay was months away from bankruptcy)

The Second Stage of the development had Avellone cut and re-adjust much of his original story to fit the video game format. Places like Big Empty and Leavenworth were cut and merged to form Tibbets Prison. The story elements that his players performed were recreated but with a twist. It would be the now renamed Victor Presper who with his gang of goons breaking out of prison and escaping on a train, and to accidentally crashing into a Legion camp.

When Avellone had left, Sawyer was placed as lead of the Van Buren Project in its Third Stage. At this point he saw to re-adjust what Avellone had done and to cut down on content as to save on time and resources. Circle Junction would be cut as the location of Tibbets would make Circle Junction almost defunct of its purpose. The original design having the PC start on the end of the North-East part of the map had them moved to the center. Plus the Legion would see a drastic cut in its role in the story as well which made the location seem unnecessary for the team to waste. Ulysses would see its name being changed to Odysseus. Even places like Robot City would see itself cut from the project along with the side plot of Ulysses dying. This plot device may have been moved to ZAX at Boulder Dome, who is technically dying with its memory running low.

Husges, Reynolds & Foletto’s reign would come after Sawyer’s departure. It would be the most painful fourth and final stage, not only were they low on team members but the company was going bankrupt. All hope was riding on this game to be released to make profits back. A lot more was cut down from the game as now only the bare essential locations where to be explorable. New Canaan saw the cutting board as was replaced by Jericho as it was smaller and easier to develop. The Hangdogs and Blackfoots would see the same fate as both get merged into one location. Much of their lore is lost and cut drastically which will never see the light of day due to the eventual closure of Interplay, meaning no one came round to finishing the document.

Hopefully this gives an idea of how the original docs are not so straight forward. Granted there are many other bits I may have missed out but you get the point. The documents available are a mixture of old and new ideas.

Gameplay
The game would see a drastic overhaul in its engine from its predecessors as it would be the first title in the mainline story to utilize a 3D engine. The game keeps its isometric style map and camera view, but most parts of its UI and menus have been updated.

SPECIAL
The game used a highly modified version of SPECIAL (the character system used in the previous Fallout games) the changes were introduced mostly by J.E. Sawyer. Some of his changes include merging combat skills and dividing Speech into Deception and Persuasion. [Double Check]

Races
Van Buren was at some point planned to have three playable races, including humans, ghouls and super mutants. [Add document passage from VB design doc]

Story
Taking place in the American Rocky Mountains and Southwest regions, Van Buren would be situated across four states. The westernmost sites on the game map served as the easternmost borders of New California Republic. According to the design documents, it would have been set in the year 2253.

To break it down, there is a loose outline of the main quest but no written plan from the original documents.

The Summary:


 * 1) PC breaks out of Tibbets Prison
 * 2) PC discovers they are infected with the New Plague
 * 3) Robots hunt & harass PC while they gather the six other prisoners
 * 4) PC stops/destroys Odysseus – no more robots
 * 5) PC discovers Victor Presper is behind the infection, and is going to blow up the world!
 * 6) PC flies to space to stop/destroy Presper
 * 7) The End

The Prisoner
The game would have begun with the player character in a prison cell. Because of this, the player was given a choice. The prisoner could be an innocent that was imprisoned because of some misunderstanding, or they could choose to be a criminal and take bonus traits that would bolster some of their skills. [Add Chris Avellone quote from YT channel]

The player would awaken in a prison cell, but not the one they remembered falling asleep in. Suddenly, the floor rocks violently from an explosion, and the player is knocked unconscious. When they awaken, they find their cell door open and a hole in the wall leading outside. Leaving the prison, the character is under attack by some unknown assailant. Deciding that discretion is the better part of valor, the player flees into the night to explore this new world.

Victor Presper's plan
Eventually, the player would discover the true reason behind the prison and the attack on it. It turns out that, through extensive research, the mad scientist called Presper, disgusted with what the world turned into after the War, discovered the history of New Plague, the virus that FEV was initially created to cure, and its genocidal potency, and also discovered a viable means to cleanse the world. Using ODYSSEUS, the quarantine prison, and a ballistic satellite known as B.O.M.B.-001, the way to human planetary domination and order became clear. He needed to get to B.O.M.B.-001 and use the nuclear weapons to clean the filth and wretch that currently have occupied the surface.

Presper and his followers released the New Plague virus in the remote areas near Boulder and Denver. It was close enough to the quarantine prison to spur ODYSSEUS into action, but not near enough to cause huge populations to start a general panic. Once enough people were infected and ODYSSEUS "arrested" enough people to just about fill up the prison, Presper’s men would stage an attack on the prison which would allow everyone to escape. This event would start a countdown of sorts for missile launch on B.O.M.B.-001. ODYSSEUS would assess the viral spread, try to gather up the escaped prisoners, and, once 90% of the prisoners had been retrieved, launch nuclear missiles to “clean & prevent” any further infection. By the time this happened, Presper had planned to be on, and in full control of, B.O.M.B.-001 and reprogramming targeting solutions to clean the areas he wanted. Humans of his choosing would wait out the second nuclear holocaust in the Boulder Dome, until the day came where he declared the Earth safe for pureblood humans once more.

Cut Weapons
[Still Under Construction]

Cut Items
[Still Under Construction]

Cut Maps/ Locations
The game takes place across four states of the American Rocky Mountains and Southwest regions: Utah, Colorado, Arizona & New Mexico. The players would be able to venture to a variety of locations all filled with various missions and activities to complete.
 * Blackfoot Village
 * Bloomfield Space Center
 * Ballistic Orbital Missile Base-001
 * Boulder Dome
 * Burham Springs
 * Circle Junction
 * Crater
 * Denver City (Dog Town)
 * Fort Abandon
 * Grand Canyon
 * Hangdogs Village
 * Hoover Dam
 * Jericho
 * Maxson Bunker
 * Mesa Verde
 * Moletown
 * New Canaan
 * Ouroboros Village
 * Reservation
 * Rocky Mountain Arsenal
 * The Nursery
 * Tibbets Prison Facility
 * Twin Mothers Village
 * Vault 29
 * Vault 69
 * Vault 70

Non-Playable Characters (NPC)
The game would have begun with the player character in a prison cell. Because of this, the player was given a choice.

Companions

 * Alexandra
 * Arcade Gannon
 * Ashley
 * BAJAR
 * Battery
 * Bear
 * Beatrice
 * Chrissy
 * CRB-S
 * Devil Dog
 * Hanged Man
 * Job
 * Kurisu
 * Measles
 * Otto Steed
 * S.O.R.-1000 Alpha
 * Xian

Cut Graphics
[Still Under Construction]

Cut Quests
[Still Under Construction]

Cut Endings
[Still Under Construction]

Versions

 * Van Buren Demo (Windows)

Extras

 * Fallout Van Buren Concept Art
 * Fallout Van Buren Promotional Material and Trailers
 * Fallout Van Buren Development Document