Fallout 4's Todd Howard talks lighting and weather effects in new video

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Quakecon is happening, and that means lots of interesting Bethesda titbits are making their way online. For instance, this video—filmed at E3—features Todd Howard talking about the ancillary graphical details that make the world what it is. It's filled with excited talk about lighting and weather effects, if that is the sort of thing you like to hear.

You also get to see a bit of the game in motion, via the accompanying B-roll footage.

Howard is clearly quite proud of the visual effects that his team have achieved, but graphics aren't everything to Bethesda. Pete Hines told Gamesradar that the studio's objective is "almost limitless freedom".

"We push it visually as much as we can, while realising that we are not making a game just for the sake of having it be the best looking game out there," Hines said.

"Everything in the world [is] something tangible - you don’t walk into a room and see lots of stuff and it’s all fake. All the items are actual items. You set off a grenade in a room? It’s going to blow shit around and knock it all over the place. You have to spend cycles and stuff tracking where all of that went, and how it’s going to bounce around."

Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.