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this is straight from their page on Moddb

http://www.moddb.com/games/f3-van-buren

Their Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/f3vanburen

"Van Buren: A Fallout RPG Adventure is a remake of Interplay's canceled Fallout 3 by fans. You are the Prisoner in this - the biggest ever - Fallout game. We are using original design documents, developer interviews and forum posts as info sources. We're looking for contributors so feel free to contact us. The game will require preinstalled copies of Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics"

When I saw this I was very interested so I emailed the man behind the project, Hexer .. We exchanged emails and I eventually asked him a couple of questions (5 Questions) about the game and he was very easy to talk to and had no problem answering them, I decided to make a video about it ( the video includes screenshots, some already on the web and others that were given to me for the video) , I will post the link and the transcript of my questions and his answers.

The Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3m61mFpAqk

Transcript

Me : What inspired you and your team to remake fallout van buren and bring it back from the dead?

Hexer: Today's CRPGs can't hold my attention the way older ones did. Because of that I was losing interest in CRPGs and became frustrated with the fact that I might never play a game like Fallout 1 or 2 again in my life. So there I was at the end of 2013 trying to find a solution. I asked myself a question - what CRPG do you want to play? One of the classics that has been around for decades? - No. Something new yet in the same vein as the classics? - Yes, Van Buren, the canceled Fallout 3 from Black Isle Studios.

Since I have lots of experience with modding Fallout 2 and doing large projects on my own (privately and on my daily job), I was perfectly comfortable with the idea to do it on my own. It would take a long time but I can do it. So I started and posted about it on RPGCodex's forum. Soon, other fans started contacting me expressing support and even joining me as writers, musicians, artists, etc.

Me : You are using original design documents, developer interviews and forum posts as information to bring the original vision to life as close as you possibly can, Is it enough for a full game or do you have to add original ideas of your own to flesh the game out?

Hexer: Yes, we have to rely on our own ideas and writing abilities in certain areas. We gathered plenty of information on the internet but that wasn't enough. The main plot was loosely defined while some locations and companions weren't written at all, merely mentioned. Changes to the game's famous SPECIAL system were also incomplete.

So we rolled up our sleeves and started filling those gaps in. We put some extra strain on ourselves by bringing back everything BIS cut from the game but we believe that's the only way to do it right.

Me: This is a personal question for you Hexer, What is your favorite fallout game and why?

Hexer: My favorite Fallout game is Fallout 1. I love the atmosphere, the story, the world, and the music.

Me: Is there anyone from the original F3 van buren development team working (or giving support ) to the project?

Hexer: Chris Avellone helped us with our questions related to the main plot and central characters. We plan on reaching out to other developers when we finish the Alpha version. If not with questions, then with information that Van Buren is happening after all and they'll get a chance to play it!

Me: I would have to ask of course! Is it possible to give me time frame of release, percentage of how much you have gotten done?

Hexer : We're currently assembling the Alpha version which is over 7 GB in size. Most of the music is done, the art is about 80% done, mapping is under way and we've finished about 40% of our maps, we are a little behind with dialogs lately although I'm certain our dozen writers won't disappoint. Changes to SPECIAL and scripting numerous quests are also under way although I will first need to finish the new art and mapping before working on it full time with our other programmer.
Voice acting and cinematics are last on our list of things to do so we only discussed them informatively although we secured voice actors for the Narrator and a few NPCs.

With all this in mind and considering our current pace of work, I don't see the game being released sooner than 2016. We want to make it right and certainly not rushed and disappointing!
Post edited July 02, 2014 by undergroundgemz
Sounds all kinds of promising and awesome.

I do have two worries about this.

The first being, is it actually ever going to be finished.

The second, often modules like this are made by and from people who've played the original games through 175 times and feel insane masochist difficulty to be too easy by far, and build accordingly. (Tried Awaken, gave up.)
I'm with Jarmo. On the one hand, this is cool. On the other hand, these people are working from design documents that may very well have been WIP. If they know what they're doing when it comes to game design, it might turn out ok, but otherwise a bunch non-professionals trying to design a previously unreleased game based on scraps of evidence as to the original developers' intent sounds like it could go wrong in so man ways.
Post edited July 14, 2014 by Jonesy89
avatar
undergroundgemz: this is straight from their page on Moddb

http://www.moddb.com/games/f3-van-buren

Their Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/f3vanburen

"Van Buren: A Fallout RPG Adventure is a remake of Interplay's canceled Fallout 3 by fans. You are the Prisoner in this - the biggest ever - Fallout game. We are using original design documents, developer interviews and forum posts as info sources. We're looking for contributors so feel free to contact us. The game will require preinstalled copies of Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics"

When I saw this I was very interested so I emailed the man behind the project, Hexer .. We exchanged emails and I eventually asked him a couple of questions (5 Questions) about the game and he was very easy to talk to and had no problem answering them, I decided to make a video about it ( the video includes screenshots, some already on the web and others that were given to me for the video) , I will post the link and the transcript of my questions and his answers.

The Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3m61mFpAqk

Transcript

Me : What inspired you and your team to remake fallout van buren and bring it back from the dead?

Hexer: Today's CRPGs can't hold my attention the way older ones did. Because of that I was losing interest in CRPGs and became frustrated with the fact that I might never play a game like Fallout 1 or 2 again in my life. So there I was at the end of 2013 trying to find a solution. I asked myself a question - what CRPG do you want to play? One of the classics that has been around for decades? - No. Something new yet in the same vein as the classics? - Yes, Van Buren, the canceled Fallout 3 from Black Isle Studios.

Since I have lots of experience with modding Fallout 2 and doing large projects on my own (privately and on my daily job), I was perfectly comfortable with the idea to do it on my own. It would take a long time but I can do it. So I started and posted about it on RPGCodex's forum. Soon, other fans started contacting me expressing support and even joining me as writers, musicians, artists, etc.

Me : You are using original design documents, developer interviews and forum posts as information to bring the original vision to life as close as you possibly can, Is it enough for a full game or do you have to add original ideas of your own to flesh the game out?

Hexer: Yes, we have to rely on our own ideas and writing abilities in certain areas. We gathered plenty of information on the internet but that wasn't enough. The main plot was loosely defined while some locations and companions weren't written at all, merely mentioned. Changes to the game's famous SPECIAL system were also incomplete.

So we rolled up our sleeves and started filling those gaps in. We put some extra strain on ourselves by bringing back everything BIS cut from the game but we believe that's the only way to do it right.

Me: This is a personal question for you Hexer, What is your favorite fallout game and why?

Hexer: My favorite Fallout game is Fallout 1. I love the atmosphere, the story, the world, and the music.

Me: Is there anyone from the original F3 van buren development team working (or giving support ) to the project?

Hexer: Chris Avellone helped us with our questions related to the main plot and central characters. We plan on reaching out to other developers when we finish the Alpha version. If not with questions, then with information that Van Buren is happening after all and they'll get a chance to play it!

Me: I would have to ask of course! Is it possible to give me time frame of release, percentage of how much you have gotten done?

Hexer : We're currently assembling the Alpha version which is over 7 GB in size. Most of the music is done, the art is about 80% done, mapping is under way and we've finished about 40% of our maps, we are a little behind with dialogs lately although I'm certain our dozen writers won't disappoint. Changes to SPECIAL and scripting numerous quests are also under way although I will first need to finish the new art and mapping before working on it full time with our other programmer.
Voice acting and cinematics are last on our list of things to do so we only discussed them informatively although we secured voice actors for the Narrator and a few NPCs.

With all this in mind and considering our current pace of work, I don't see the game being released sooner than 2016. We want to make it right and certainly not rushed and disappointing!
I would love to see this happen. Was so disappointed to see it cancelled and forced to play some monstrosity from Bethesda. How is he getting around Bethesda's tough licensing to be able to release it? Thanks for the post.
avatar
Jonesy89: I'm with Jarmo. On the one hand, this is cool. On the other hand, these people are working from design documents that may very well have been WIP. If they know what they're doing when it comes to game design, it might turn out ok, but otherwise a bunch non-professionals trying to design a previously unreleased game based on scraps of evidence as to the original developers' intent sounds like it could go wrong in so man ways.
The interview and this response reminds me of Ian Malcolm pointing out all the problems with Jurassic Park.
Van Buren was quite far along at the time of its cancellation. There's even a playable tech demo (you can get it at No Mutants Allowed if you're interested). Over the years the design docs have been thoroughly sifted through by fans and commented upon by the designers, so I think there's plenty of reliable material there upon which to base this project.