:Van Buren (video game)

Image:Fallout Van Buren Screenshot.jpg]]

Set in the year 2253, the plot of Van Buren revolved around a prisoner, who the player could decide was either guilty or wrongfully accused of their crime.{{Cite web|last=MacGregor|first=Jody|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/the-cancelled-fallout-van-buren-is-being-remade-as-a-new-vegas-mod/|title=The cancelled Fallout Van Buren is being remade as a New Vegas mod|website=PC Gamer|date=May 30, 2021|accessdate=May 31, 2021}} The player could decide the race of the prisoner: human, ghoul, or super mutant. This decision would affect which quests, communities, and skills the player could interact with. At the beginning of the game, the prisoner would escape, and explore the American Southwest while being chased by robotic prison guards. The map consisted of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah, and the player could visit locations like Denver and the Grand Canyon.{{cite magazine|last=Dransfield|first=Ian|title=The History of Fallout|magazine=Retro Gamer|issue=186|year=2018|pages=26–27|issn=1742-3155}}

During the game, the player would learn that the prisoner carries a virus that either kills its host or makes them sterile. The player would learn that in order to get the prison guards to stop following them, they would need to capture other escaped prisoners. The climax of the game would reveal that a mad scientist named Victor Presper tricked the player into capturing prisoners so that they could spread the virus as a vector. Presper would enact a nuclear holocaust on the infected population. There were several endings, which were determined by the player's actions throughout the story. One of the endings involved the prisoner using Presper's nuclear satellite to destroy part of the world. In addition to Presper, there were multiple subplots related to different factions, such as a war between the Brotherhood of Steel and the New California Republic, a tribal army inspired by the Roman legion called Caesar's Legion, and a matriarchal tribe called the Daughters of Hecate.

The gameplay of Van Buren would have included a mixture of real-time and turn-based combat.{{cite web|last=Bailey|first=Kat|url=https://www.vg247.com/the-making-of-fallout-new-vegas-how-obsidians-underrated-sequel-became-a-beloved-classic|title=The Making of Fallout: New Vegas: How Obsidian's Underrated Sequel Became a Beloved Classic|website=VG247|date=December 31, 2020|accessdate=April 25, 2024|archive-date=April 14, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414213631/https://www.vg247.com/the-making-of-fallout-new-vegas-how-obsidians-underrated-sequel-became-a-beloved-classic|url-status=live}} The player would explore the map with a team of non-playable character (NPC) companions.{{cite web|last=Frank|first=Allegra|url=https://www.polygon.com/2015/11/16/9746264/fallout-3-van-buren-chris-avellone-nyu-practice-2015|title=The aborted Fallout 3 had pen and paper origins, sounded amazing|website=Polygon|date=November 16, 2015|accessdate=May 6, 2024}} Each NPC would make their own independent decisions which would affect the story.{{cite web|last=Hillier|first=Brenna|url=https://www.vg247.com/fallout-3-van-buren-companions-would-have-changed-the-game-world|title=Fallout 3: Van Buren companions would have changed the game world|website=VG247|date=November 17, 2015|accessdate=May 6, 2024}} Throughout the game, the player would encounter another malevolent group of AI controlled NPCs. This group would make decisions that would affect the story. Other notable mechanics included the usage of a theme song for any skill of the player's choosing, and the need to repair railway lines in order to fast travel.

File:Chris Avellone.jpg

After the release of Fallout 2 in 1998, Black Isle Studios decided the next Fallout game should feature 3D graphics. Development on what was intended to be the third game in the Fallout series coincided with the development of Planescape: Torment. Black Isle worked with the game engine NDL, but due to their inexperience with the 3D engine, development was slow. Black Isle's publisher Interplay Entertainment canceled the project, and moved the team over to the development of what would become Icewind Dale.{{cite web|last=Osborn|first=Alex|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2017/01/27/obsidian-ceo-reveals-fallout-3-that-never-released-a-ign-unfiltered|title=Obsidian CEO Reveals Fallout 3 That Was Never Released — IGN Unfiltered|website=IGN|date=January 27, 2017|accessdate=May 6, 2024}} After the project's cancellation, designer Chris Avellone worked on a Fallout themed tabletop role-playing game in his spare time. He ran two separate games with Black Isle members simultaneously, and did not tell them that their actions were affecting the other game. Nearly all of the content in Van Buren, from the characters to the story, was inspired by the actions of the players during these tabletop games.

At the time, Interplay was undergoing a period of financial hardship, an issue that would persist for several years.{{cite web|last=Bailey|first=Kat|url=https://www.vg247.com/the-last-days-of-black-isle-studios|title=The Last Days of Black Isle Studios|website=VG247|date=November 24, 2017|accessdate=April 25, 2024|archive-date=April 21, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421135314/https://www.vg247.com/the-last-days-of-black-isle-studios|url-status=live}} Journalist Kat Bailey credits Interplay's financial struggles to the increased cost for game development, and the industry shift toward console gaming in the late 1990s. As a result, layoffs and project cancellations became commonplace for Interplay affiliated studios. In 2003, Interplay lost the license to publish Dungeons & Dragons games on computers, but retained the rights to publish games for consoles.{{cite web|last=Klepek|first=Patrick|url=https://kotaku.com/that-time-someone-else-was-making-fallout-3-1744268228|title=That Time Someone Else Was Making Fallout 3|website=Kotaku|date=November 24, 2015|accessdate=May 6, 2024}} This occurred while Black Isle was developing the Dungeons & Dragons game Baldur's Gate III: The Black Hound, and the project was canceled. Avellone resigned shortly after. When asked about this period, Avellone remarked, "[Interplay founder] Brian Fargo was gone by that point, and the vision for the company went along with him. And while we knew [Interplay] needed to turn a profit, we were starting to feel it in the trenches." After the cancellation of Baldur's Gate III: The Black Hound, Interplay instructed Black Isle to retool the game engine and focus on making a new Fallout game, codenamed Van Buren.{{cite book|last=Lafleuriel|first=Erwan|title=Fallout. A Tale of Mutation|publisher=Third Éditions|year=2018|isbn=978-2-37784-032-8|type=E-book|page=Chapter 2 (Search phrase "They told us to retool the engine and create Fallout 3")}} The codename was a reference to Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States.{{cite web|last=Bratt|first=Chris|url=https://www.eurogamer.net/the-fallout-3-we-never-got-to-play|title=The Fallout 3 we never got to play|website=Eurogamer|date=September 21, 2017|accessdate=May 7, 2024}}

Josh Sawyer took over as lead designer for Van Buren, while Tom French served as the producer.{{cite web|last=Ooi|first=Will|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/an-interview-with-je-sawyer---game-developer-biker-and-cat-lover|title=An Interview with JE Sawyer - game developer, biker, and cat lover|website=Game Developer|date=September 25, 2011|accessdate=May 6, 2024}} Sawyer notes that he condensed the story Avellone had already written so that it would work on a smaller scale. During development, Sawyer made multiple attempts to get Interplay to evaluate the work that had been done, but he never received a response. According to Sawyer, "It basically made me think, 'They have either no interest or no care for what we're doing'." When Interplay moved one of the remaining character artists for Van Buren onto a different project, Sawyer resigned. During this period, series creator and former Interplay developer Tim Cain was asked to play a demo of Van Buren.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwoWRj0cfag |title=The Canceling of Fallout Van Buren...And Me |date=June 19, 2024 |last=Cain |first=Timothy |type=Video |via=YouTube}} The vice president of Interplay asked Cain to estimate how long it would take to complete the game, to which Cain responded 12 to 18 months. The vice president then told Cain that any estimate over 6 months would have led to the cancellation of Van Buren. Sawyer believes Cain's 18 month estimation was too optimistic, and posited an actual development period of at least 24 months.{{cite web|last=Lewis|first=Catherine|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fallout/rpg-veteran-josh-sawyer-says-black-isle-studios-stab-at-fallout-3-was-never-going-to-be-made-in-time-with-the-staff-we-had-it-would-have-been-at-least-two-years/|title=RPG veteran Josh Sawyer says Black Isle Studios' stab at Fallout 3 was never going to be made in time: 'With the staff we had it would have been at least two years'|website=GamesRadar+|date=July 29, 2024|accessdate=December 29, 2024}}

In December 2003, Van Buren was canceled, and the remaining Black Isle staff were laid off.{{efn-ua|Cain does not believe that the remaining Black Isle members were laid off, and were instead either moved to different projects or left the company of their own volition.}} Cain believes that the cancelation came down to money: "I do not believe that [with] the money they had left, the game in the state it was in, and the people who were working on it could have completed it within six months ... and [if they did], I don't think it would have been a game you would have liked playing." Interplay's parent company Titus Interactive wanted to focus on console releases, and Van Buren was canceled in favor of Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel.{{cite web|last1=McLaughlin|first1=Rus|last2=Kaiser|first2=Rowan|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/07/21/ign-presents-the-history-of-fallout|title=IGN Presents the History of Fallout|website=IGN|date=July 21, 2010|accessdate=April 26, 2024|archive-date=July 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719000608/https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/07/21/ign-presents-the-history-of-fallout|url-status=live}} Sawyer estimates that Van Buren had been in development for around half a year before its cancellation.{{cite web|last=Kelly|first=Kevin|url=https://www.engadget.com/2010-05-05-interview-josh-sawyer-on-fallout-new-vegas.html|title=Interview: Josh Sawyer on Fallout: New Vegas|website=Engadget|date=May 5, 2010|accessdate=May 6, 2024}}

In 2007, Bethesda Softworks purchased the Fallout intellectual property. The following year they released Fallout 3. Fallout 3 was well received by critics, and sold more than 5 million copies in 2008. Although the plot of Fallout 3 was completely unrelated to Van Buren, some story elements from the canceled game were used in the follow-up Fallout: New Vegas, such as the American Southwest setting and Caesar's Legion.{{cite web|last=Miszczyk|first=Maciej|url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/fallout-3-van-buren/|title=Fallout 3: Van Buren|website=Hardcore Gaming 101|date=November 6, 2016|accessdate=May 6, 2024}} Fallout: New Vegas was developed by Obsidian Entertainment, a company Avellone cofounded after he left Black Isle.

In 2014, the company Roxy Friday LLC registered a trademark for the names "Meantime" and "Van Buren".{{cite web|last=Chalk|first=Andy|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/van-buren-and-meantime-trademarks-filed-by-inxile/|title=Van Buren and Meantime trademarks filed by inXile|website=PC Gamer|date=December 8, 2014|accessdate=May 6, 2024}} Meantime was the canceled follow-up to Wasteland. Some journalists noted that Roxy Friday LLC was a subsidiary of Brian Fargo's company inXile Entertainment, and since Fargo directed Wasteland, he might try to resurrect the Meantime and Van Buren projects.{{cite web|last=Benson|first=Julian|url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/van-buren/inxile-trademark-van-buren-and-meantime-the-most-famous-rpgs-never-made|title=InXile trademark Van Buren and Meantime. The most famous RPGs never made|website=PCGamesN|date=December 10, 2014|accessdate=May 6, 2024}} Fargo later told Eurogamer that he registered the Van Buren trademark in the hope of working with Avellone on a game akin to Van Buren when the two had availability.{{cite web|last=Purchese|first=Robert|url=https://www.eurogamer.net/inxile-fallout-van-buren-trademark|title=inXile saving Van Buren trademark for a rainy day|website=Eurogamer|date=June 9, 2015|accessdate=May 6, 2024}}

One month after Bethesda purchased the Fallout intellectual property, a playable demo for Van Buren was leaked online, along with a 700-page design document.{{cite web|last=Litchfield|first=Ted|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/canceled-fallout-rpg-from-2003-is-being-resurrected/|title=Canceled Fallout RPG from 2003 is being resurrected|website=PC Gamer|date=November 23, 2021|accessdate=May 6, 2024}} The demo showcased what would have been the tutorial, a self-contained storyline about a town that is attacked by Chinese-affiliated communist insurgents. There have been multiple attempts by fans to recreate and finish Van Buren using the playable demo as reference, including mods for Fallout 2 and Fallout: New Vegas, as well as a full game developed in the Unity engine. Jody MacGregor of PC Gamer noted that Van Buren holds a "mythic quality among Fallout fans" due to the wealth of information about the game.

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Category:Black Isle Studios games

Category:Cancelled Windows games

Category:Fallout (franchise) video games