i LOVE this game but im starting to get sick of using VATS unless im using a sniper gun there is NO way i can play it! I have the PC,ps3 and x box 360 format (well had the ps3 and 360 version) and on each i found it impossible to use it as a stright forward FPS Does any one else know what i mean here?? Are there any mods that changes this? I use a 360 controller on the pc version as i find it slightly easier with the button layout, but id much prefer to use the mouse. Any ideas out there?

P.s its not that im not used to playing fps's either lol im mad on them. I didnt have this problem with Oblivion.

Hmm, in vanilla (without mods) i didn't really use VATS. It was a god mode button for emergencies. Just run toward an enemy and shoot them with a shotgun or an assault rifle. Of course auto aim causes problems on PC version... Auto Aim Fix or such should help with that, it should make long range shooting easier. Can't think anything else right now.
(FO3 is RPG, so character skill does matter, quite a lot in fact. Remember that. Good condition guns too.)

Here's link: http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5606
Auto Aim Fix headshot deluxe edition. Dunno exactly how it affects to headshots... despite using FWE which has this integrated.

EDIT: What's wrong with WASD+Mouse combination? You can edit the key settings, you know

Until you have a decent weapon and/or decent experience VATs is the only way to kill anything. Even when you have the experience, VATs seems to be the only way to hit a moving target.

Never had much of a problem in the out of the box pc game personally. I happen to have a medium range pc and even though I get huge lag I only ever used vats in the tense battles with lots of explosions.

That plus any situation where my vision was impaired by flame or something.

PS- Don't use the overhauls lol Those are NOT for you obviously =P

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Fallout 3 is not a first person shooter. Trying to play it as such will only result in headache. Just because you put the targeting cursor over your target and pull the trigger does NOT mean you will hit. The game computes the chance to hit based on your skill and other factors, only using your aim as a guide to what you are trying to shoot at. That makes it an RPG, not a FPS.

Once you get your skill near 100 it will be considerably easier to hit targets. To easy in fact. All you have to do is be close enough to your target for the cursor to turn red, and you will hit.

Perhaps the game isn't an FPS per se, but I never use VATS in my games whatsoever and I do just fine.

Then again, I am a good aim with mouse and keyboard.

Adam, a little more info might prove helpful such as what level are you at, what weapons are you using, how do you have your skills/SPECIAL set up, what enemy are you engaging and where on the map are you etc? I use a host of different strategies depending on the situation and what level I'm at.

Use Dk's Bullet Time.

Sorry your right i didnt add enough info.. im level 3 lol Im not talking so much of long distance im on about when things are up close and personal >< Its more i find it dam hard to get the curser where it needs to be intime to shoot. Im not talking so much about mouse scrolling speeds etc.. it just dosnt seem smoth (if you get me) its more clunky Also when ive had a maxed out player on the ps3 version i was having the same problems. Its deff not a level problem Its probs just me! ill try that auto aim mod see if that helps lol

Also when i said about buttom layout i was talking more about the backup button -_- why the HELL do they use E when looking?! ITS MADNESS! it really throws me off for some reason lol im a fussy little git when it comes to playing. When using the 360controller the layout seems more natural:/

P.s i also used the bullet time mod and found it just the same like i say the curser dosnt move fluidly.. :/ Just gets a bit boring using VATS was hoping there was a new way hehe

I found it pretty near impossible as well until I rebound my attack key from the mouse to the keyboard. Trying to hold down the right mouse button then use the left for attack and then aim with the mouse was just too awkward, now I hardly use vats at all. Also the E key I've rebound to the space bar like it was in Oblivion.

:o how did you do that???

Also ive figured out what it was i was finding imparing -_- it was the speed mvoement of the char. i dopwnloaded this mod http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7618 the 25% speed mod and im running around killing everything left right and center lol Seriosuly tho how do u change the back out key so itssame as oblivion? :'(

EDIT: sorry i keep syaing bakc out key -_- i mean select key! At mo in vats its E. id rathr chang it to F

You can change it under Settings -> Controls -> Action mapping. The only mouse key you can't change is the zoom button/right mouse button. The space bar is much better IMO for activating objects than the e key which I use for jump now.

Actually, if you get an accurate weapon (very low spread) you can hit any target you want to right out of the vault. Your weapons skills do not keep you from shooting extremely accurately. Those skills only really affect the scoped weapons and even then, if you are good at aiming and timing you can snipe with them long before you get up that high. The things you can improve with your skills are the condition of your weapon with repair or the amount of damage done with your weapons skill, but that doesn't affect your out-of-VATS aiming at all. And not using VATS isn't an FPS decision necessarily. I got bored with it after hundreds of hours and just starting shooting less and less with it. I hardly ever use it now. The key to playing successfuly without VATS is chosing the right weapons. Low spread and fast fire rate weapons work best for me. The thing is, the vanilla game doesn't offer very many SG that are good for that. Although, a combat shotgun (vanilla) is neither fast nor low spread, and it's great out of VATS if you don't mind playing close up with enemies. EW is really the way to go for this IMO unless you have good modded weapons. Oh, and I play with a controller on the PC too.

Any game giving you control over what keys YOU, the player stipulates and NOT pre-defined is at least a good player friendly game.

I cant see any (back) or (select) key in there tho?:(

The key I'm talking about is the ACTIVATE key, that's what its called in the action mapping menu. It's the one you use to talk to npc's and open containers.

/edit I'm not yelling here, just emphasizing

*cries* dont YELL AT ME!!!... Lol Ahh nah ive edited that to F key. It just dosnt work on the odd menu (vats for one) Ah well ill get used to it:D thanks for ur help guys

I play with a gamepad using an XBox Controller Emulator, so VATS is fairly important to my current game. But when I played with mouse, aiming was fairly intuitive (it was movement that was not). I use http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2820 and
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4873 which actually extends the range of auto aim and, of all the auto aim mods I've experimented with, works best to offset the horrible inaccurate point blank aim when playing in thrid person (if you play in first person, you won't notice anything different).

I don't really have this problem, unless I'm using the hunting rifle on something that literally SPRINTS at me.

I hardly ever use VATS, you just have to find a weapon that suits you...or just use it




However it did take me some time to get use to shooting in Fallout, but then, all "shooters" and FPS's are different anyway

That's not true at all. I didn't like the whole VATS thing so I've completely disabled it in my game. And I've had no problem hitting my targets, moving or not, without it.

I NEVER use VATS. I much prefer Bullet Time (but I only use BT as a last resort . . . like when I'm heavily outnumbered). Even with my Realism Tweaks, which greatly increases the effect of skills, as long as my gun is in pretty good condition (above 75%), I generally have no trouble hitting my target. (Of course I also make sure that I'm not moving, that I crouch, and that I aim.)

when I was using FWE 4.1 I went 41 hours and chainge and never once used vats.

now with FWE 5.0 I use it at time, like with my minigun, but never my flamer, but with 4.1 I had a small guns guy and always sniped, and was always solo.
Now with 5.0 I have a big guns guy and at first just Mika the sniper (mod) and just picked up bittercup (also mod) and its pretty neat having two followers.

One with a scoped and ex mag hunting rifle and one with a lever rifle.

The vanilla spread numbers make all the weapons unnaturally inaccurate until you have very high gun skill.
Also, as Arwen said, not shooting when moving, using the sights and crouching can have a big impact on accuracy.

Personally, I find VATS too disruptive to immersion, so I disabled it and changed the spread and damage to more realistic values.

I hate VATS. With vanilla FO3 it was just a godmode button. In FWE it's just plain useless.

I was trying to use it for dramatic video and screenshots and kept missing ..

I much prefer real time, and bullet time for those pesky runners.

Also, don't always rely on guns. Try bumping up some explosive skill and using all those free frag mines you pick up to set traps and cover your flank when you take up a position to snipe a few.
Frag mines and bottlecap mines are awesome.

I stopped using VATS halfway though my first playthough and haven't used it since.

Increase the damage of all guns in GECK so you don't waste ammo and the game becomes extemely tense around raiders and other armed opponents, while making the daily grind of dogs and scorpions proportionally easier