Does Fallout 3 Have Level Scaling Like Oblivion?
This question was risen very early during the development of Fallout 3, and it became a touchy subject given the number of gamers that complained against this feature, and the way several developers at Bethesda Softworks agreed that it could be improved. In 2008 PC Gamer columnist Desslock had access to an early version of the game, and brought us the first solid answer:
"Fortunately, Fallout 3 will not use Oblivion’s level-scaling, but contrary to what you may have read elsewhere, scaling isn’t completely discarded.
The first important change is that creatures never scale up in abilities to match your level, so each Deathclaw in F3 will always have the same attributes, regardless of your character’s level when you have the misfortune of encountering it.
Second, each territory in the game is now assigned an encounter level that determines the level and equipment of critters when you discover that area, so a first-level character that wanders into an area designated as 'encounter level 5' will be badly outmatched by the inhabitants. Loot is also generally scaled to the area's encounter level, but some items will be hand-placed, which is similar to how Morrowind handled loot.
An area’s level doesn’t remain static, but it gets locked as soon as you enter it. If you enter a city block designated as a level 5 area, it will remain a level 5 area and never scale up in difficulty. Areas you haven’t yet encountered do “tether up” in difficulty level, but the tethering level doesn’t linearly scale with your level, so there’s still an advantage to gaining experience levels.
The city block that’s initially designated as a level 5 area will tether up and be designated as a level 8 area if you don’t wander into it until you’re a level 15 character. But since an area’s level is locked once you enter it, you’ll still get the satisfaction of returning to a previously difficult area and annihilating it's residents once you have a more powerful character.
Bethesda’s still tweaking these systems, but they should make exploration more interesting and not diminish the regard for advancement by making you feel like you can never really get ahead.
We heard then that Bethsoft wasn't going to use the same system, but more info was required to clarify even more how things would work.
So already in 2008 Fallout 3 Lead Designer Emil Pagliarulo decided to explain how things will work in detail:
"This has been mentioned several times in past threads and interviews, but for those who missed it:
– Yes, there is a variation of level scaling used to control the difficulty of the main quest, so you can proceed through the game’s main story at any time and have a good deal of it (not all) be balanced for to your level and abilities.
– Other areas are “tethered” to certain levels
– There are places in the Wasteland where, if you’re not careful, you’ll certainly get your ass handed to you. Best to leave and come back when you’re better equipped/more skilled. Funny — just a half hour ago, our effects artist, Grant Struthers, told me this awesome story about how he watched a Deathclaw just rip this (well armored) NPC to pieces…
– That said, if you leave an area that’s too difficult, and then return later, no you won’t find that everything has increased in level, and it’s now even tougher.
– No, Raiders won’t eventually be equipped with Power Armor.
The balance has been feeling really great, and the team is really confident that we’ve solved the level scaling issues we had in Oblivion. Yes, we identified those mistakes, and learned from them. *gasp!*
One important thing to remember about Fallout 3 is that the game uses an experience points based system of leveling; you don’t level up based on skill usage. And, you get the majority of your XP from completing quests. So on the main quest path specifically, we are much better able to determine what level you’ll be at — especially your minimum level — when you get to any specific quest.
So while we do some level scaling on the main quest, things are generally at the player’s level anyway, because we know your minimum level along that path. And even where things are scaled to control difficulty, it’s not like a Super Mutant is going to scale down to level 2 anyway. Most of the level scaling stuff we do is just to eliminate frustration at the lower levels.
So by the time you get to the end of the game, you’re going to face challenges appropriate to the level you’d naturally be at."
So this time we will have a different system, but only when you play the game you'll find out how fine tuned it will be.
