Fallout 4 Director Stresses Importance of Graphics

When speaking at a panel presentation at E3 2015, Fallout 4 game director Todd Howard weighed in on how the increased performance of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have affected development of Fallout 4 when compared to the last generation of consoles.

Bethesda’s goal in developing the world of Fallout 4 appears to be to better immerse players in the world than in previous installments in the series.

"I think with each of our games, the graphics [are] always going to move along," Howard said. "Not just the graphics, but memory is important to us. How much memory it has. If we make a world that has, not just more details, but more dynamic details that we can keep track of and stream in and load quicker, all of that suspends your disbelief that this is a real world."

"The graphics matter, they do matter in suspending your disbelief," he added.

If better immersion in the game world is a goal for Bethesda, then offering a world where things are more colorful and brighter rather than bleak and gray seems to be one solution. One panel attendee asked Howard about this shift in visual tone from Fallout 3 to Fallout 4.

"Looking back at Fallout 3, there is a sameness to the environment," Howard said. "It can be, if you're playing the game for an eight-hour stretch, a little depressing."

However, players hoping for at least some of that dark and gray backdrop will be happy to know that the area in which the nuclear bomb struck will retain the more classic color palette.

Fallout 4 was announced just prior to E3 2015 and will be released on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One (with official mod support), and PC on November 10, 2015.