[Kitana Lucas]

This topic is for ideas and suggestions for Fallout 4 so that we can keep all the discussion in one thread. At moderator discretion, threads about specific and distinct topics as they relate to FO4 and the rest of the Fallout series may be acceptable in the Fallout Series forum. General idea/suggestion topics for a future Fallout game will either be closed, or moved to this one.

This thread should be used to discuss items you'd like to see in a future game, gameplay tweaks, quest ideas, things you hope are not in the next game and so on. If you want to discuss major issues, use a separate topic - such as the discussion about adding multi-player or co-op play, which already has a thread. Please search first to see if there is an active/recent thread on a particular topic.

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1403774-fallout-4-speculation-suggestions-and-ideas-thread-81/
http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1404746-fallout-4-speculation-suggestions-and-ideas-thread-82/2
http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1405539-fallout-4-speculation-suggestions-and-ideas-thread-83/3

[JUDY FIGHTS]

I think that they should make some plasma swords or laser swords

[megan gleeson]

Radiant AI
http://bitmob.com/ar...-ai-in-oblivion
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=pjbx6-KQoRg

Skyrim brought it back some, but it was a simpler version. People might fight over things you dropped. If you attacked or killed someone they would send thugs after you. It added a lot to the game. But more can be done.

Three ways it could work.

1. Make it an option like hardcoe mode. Say that it increases AI, but there is a risk that important people will die.

2. Give the important people better equipment so they can defend themselves. If they are a drug dealer like the example given in that interview, then they would have allot of money. They could spend that on guns, and armor to protect themselves.

3. All important AI is deemed essential, and cant die by other AI unless you are in there vicinity. You can kill them, but other AI cant unless the essential AI is in your draw distance.

4. Credit for this one goes to D490.

Another way for them to keep the information that key people have is to have the information available in another way such as a close friend to the Key character, on a computer, as a note. Even the person taking over the role of the deceased as there is a need for that position to be filled could offer the quest. Instead of having the quest offered by a key person have it so the quest is offered by the job the key character plays. If its just the information that is needed then the player would have to use speech in order to get the information from the friend or family or to find the note thats on the computer/book the character would need to use stealth, loackpick and possibly PCs computer skills. This way if the key character does die then the player can have a means to get the information.

People would have jobs to get money. They would use the money to buy everything they need such as food, water, ammo, and chems. They would purchase everything they need on a certain day of the week. So its a constant cycle of earn, buy, earn, buy. If you interrupt this by stealing all of their money, then they go to buy things but they cant. So they do more jobs, and start hunting, or if they are low karma stealing or murdering for the things they need. If you steal all of their supplies they go to buy more. As much as they can afford, with chems and water being highest priority because they can hunt for food. If many NPCs don't have money, from you stealing it, or getting robbed by raiders then the radiant AI recognizes this, and they form a mob. If you have a good reputation with the town they either ask you to donate money or food to them. Or they ask you to go find who did it. If your rep with them is neutral then they ask the same thing, but if you don't help them, they may become hostile. If its bad rep, then they will accuse you of stealing it and all will be hostile. You can effect people directly, or indirectly. Directly by stealing all of a persons things. So they have to manage. Eventually they would return to normal. Or indirectly, by taking the supplies of someone, who then goes and steals someone elses supplies. This would make your actions far more important, and would effect the world much more.

Radiant quests
There would be multiple radiant quests. Such as bounty hunting, or caravan guard missions. These to would effect the game world. The more bounty missions you do, the safer the world is, and the less likely a caravan would be attacked. So towns economy would get better. The more guard missions you do, the more the towns economy goes up. Bounty missions would help the economy, but not much. Guard missions would be the larger part in that. Also caravans start selling more, and better equipment, and they have more caps. Or you can get radiant quests to attack a caravan, whether its from a hostile competing company or a band of raiders doesn't matter, its the same mission. If you do many of these then economy will go down. People in towns will have less supplies and would be forced to hunt or steal more. Caravans would go out less often, and when they do they have less things and far more guards.

Starting a Caravan
I got this idea partially from posts from other people, caravaneer a post apoc caravan game on the internet, and assassins creed revelations. You start a caravan with a Brahmin. You can buy more Brahmins, and guards for it. There would be a maximum amount though, to many AI in one area would cause slowdown. To do a caravan you would go to one of the Brahmin and click on it. A box would appear showing three options, cancel would be one, and "go to", which would open another box with a list of towns. If your barter is high enough and you have a perk, it would also show the item they need most. You choose a town and they go. Or you can choose to go with the caravan. Once you choose the destination, fast travel and wait is disabled. This would take a while to do. For people playing hardcoe mode, you can click the head Brahmin and a box would appear showing cancel, or pause. This would start a campfire, and have multiple makeshift beds to sleep in. Then when your done, go the head Brahmin, and choose continue. The more guards you have the more likely it will make it to the destination. But you would get less money, because you would have to pay the guards. The more Brahmins you have, the more attacks there are, and the more enemy's there are in each attack. But you get far more money, and help the towns economy more. Day and night would effect it too. Day would be safer, but it would be hotter, so the Brahmins would move slower. Night, they would move faster, but you would get attacked more often from raiders and random wildlife. Certain towns would need certain things. If its in the KOI states (Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana) starting from Kentucky you would get allot of lumber. They have allot of trees in Kentucky. You would take that to Ronto in Ohio, who would buy the lumber for large money. They need it to use in their mills for metal to make more guns and armor. You would take the guns and armor to Indiana. They have allot of grass and vegetation. So they have allot of Brahmins and agriculture items. You would sell the weapons and armor to them, because they need it to protect the farms. Then take the farm things like beef, dairy, vegetation, seeds, whatever, to Kentucky. And it starts again. There would be more places, and more things they need.

Full body awareness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wp20bd80zI&feature=player_embedded
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/6002
So it doesn't seem like a floating gun with arms. But have less camera shake than that video.

[Andrea Pratt]

If the rumor is actually true, they are just starting then. No way in hell will this be released next year or two.

I guess you have another 100 more of these threads to go then.

[gemma king]

I think that they should make some plasma swords or laser swords

make them run on hydrogen cells. correct me if i'm wrong,i'm not up to date on star wars tech, but theoretically if you had a hollow sword with holes throughout through which hydrogen was sent and super-heated to plasma levels, and you had a metal alloy to make the sword out of that didn't melt under those temperatures, wouldn't you basically have a lightsaber? I've seen the original trilogy and the lightsabers always just looked like plasma being directed and focused through the crystals and then kept in a containment field made using the Force. I know in the brazing torches used in shop class, you use acetylene for the actual burn and oxygen to stabilize and promote the burn. with too much acetylene or too little oxygen, the flame just flares up really bad and doesn't have the heat that you get otherwise. In the same way, maybe you'd have optimized ammo which would give you more damage and actually less ammo consumption, but it would be rare.

Now, plasma weapons in-game use micro-fusion cells, but then you have the question of how you would direct phasic plasma to the sword and manage to have an actual length to the sword instead of just firing. hence the skeleton for the sword. have the plasma die off very quickly once it hits the air, so that it only moves about a few inches from the skeleton depending on how the holes in the skeleton allow it to pass through the air. Also, use flames hot enough to qualify as plasma instead of fallout plasma, which seems more like radioactive sludgebombs to me than an actual plasma bolt.

but in lieu of all that, i'll settle for radiant AI, and computer generated wastelands created at the beginning of each playthrough instead of handplaced grains of sand that never change. Oh, and 3-4 nodes all about the size of honest hearts that can be reached by a cutscene transport similar to point lookout and the boat ride going there and back. Either that or a metro tunnel system that connects all four nodes to each other in a central hub with a train route map used as a world map. The tunnel would be the size of a F3 tunnel, but no ghouls anywhere, some civilized people and would basically act like hyperspace. Go through tons of procedurally generated wasteland that is actually generated as you leave the node as opposed to intra-nodal wasteland which again is made at the start of the playthrough, or go to a metro station.

[He got the]

I've seen the original trilogy and the lightsabers always just looked like plasma being directed and focused through the crystals and then kept in a containment field made using the Force.

Its not the force. Han used Luke's lightsaber, and he doesn't use the force.

but in lieu of all that, i'll settle for radiant AI, and computer generated wastelands created at the beginning of each playthrough instead of handplaced grains of sand that never change. Oh, and 3-4 nodes all about the size of honest hearts that can be reached by a cutscene transport similar to point lookout and the boat ride going there and back. Either that or a metro tunnel system that connects all four nodes to each other in a central hub with a train route map used as a world map. The tunnel would be the size of a F3 tunnel, but no ghouls anywhere, some civilized people and would basically act like hyperspace. Go through tons of procedurally generated wasteland that is actually generated as you leave the node as opposed to intra-nodal wasteland which again is made at the start of the playthrough, or go to a metro station.

A loading screen to go to a new node would get annoying. It should be done in a way that would allow for realtime travel, and node system travel. Graphics would be sacrificed slightly, but would be worth it for a map that's larger and allows for more exploration.

[Kortknee Bell]

A loading screen to go to a new node would get annoying.

Does a couple more loadscreens really matter in the big picture where you already have one at every interior area regardless of the area size? I bet people wouldn't even notice them among the others - unless it's somehow a matter having different personal values for each loading screen and their purpose.

[Alexander Horton]

Its not the force. Han used Luke's lightsaber, and he doesn't use the force.

A loading screen to go to a new node would get annoying. It should be done in a way that would allow for realtime travel, and node system travel. Graphics would be sacrificed slightly, but would be worth it for a map that's larger and allows for more exploration.

Ah, forgot about that. I think it's just because we all consider Solo to be a Jedi master on the inside anyways. http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/lightsaber3.htm apparently, this is what a lightsaber is made out of.

and as for the nodes, you can travel in realtime with no loading screens through the randomly generated wastes, it just takes a while and a vertibird might decide to bomb deathclaws on you. Or you could go through the metro tunnels safely to save yourself some time. It would take just as long as it does changing nodes as it does in F3 moving from one metro station to another (about 5 minutes) Really, the only reason you wouldn't use the metro is if you hate loading screens, have a AMR and want to use as a flak cannon against said deathclaw bombs, or want to go visit a random wasteland that will never look the same ever again once you leave (literally. randomly generated, remember?)

[claire ley]

Does a couple more loadscreens really matter in the big picture where you already have one at every interior area regardless of the area size? I bet people wouldn't even notice them among the others - unless it's somehow a matter having different personal values for each loading screen and their purpose.

I suppose, if they are about the same map size as 3 and New Vegas the loading screens could be overlooked. But if they do it that way, hopefully they do the Skyrim style load screens with 3d things to look at, and random tips and facts on the game and its lore.

Ah, forgot about that. I think it's just because we all consider Solo to be a Jedi master on the inside anyways. http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/lightsaber3.htm apparently, this is what a lightsaber is made out of.

and as for the nodes, you can travel in realtime with no loading screens through the randomly generated wastes, it just takes a while and a vertibird might decide to bomb deathclaws on you. Or you could go through the metro tunnels to save yourself some time. It would take just as long as it does changing nodes as it does in F3 moving from one metro station to another (about 5 minutes)

Wow. Thats allot of detail into how something works that doesn't actually exist. Some people are really dedicated.

I don't understand what you mean by realtime travel through the nodes. Do you mean like it was in the originals, where you enter the node, travel some, then go through a metro tunnel, cutscene or whatever to get to the next. Or would it be realtime through the entire map?

[Ashley Hill]

The way it could work is to quite simply copy Fallout 1 or 2's map use.
Use the map to choose a destination, and have the loading screen be the on-map progress; if they automate the animation to crawl the dot from a defined point A to point B, the animation could run while the level loads. They could even algorithmically make the path be a meandering one.
Additionally, the animation could halt mid trip for a random encounter.

** Something like this even >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbigblL3wbU

[Rhi Edwards]

The way it could work is to quite simply copy Fallout 1 or 2's map use.
Use the map to choose a destination, and have the loading screen be the on-map progress; if they automate the animation to crawl the dot from a defined point A to point B, the animation could run while the level loads. They could even algorithmically make the path be a meandering one.
Additionally, the animation could halt mid trip for a random encounter.

** Something like this even >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbigblL3wbU

That looks really cool. Even if a node system isn't in, the map should be done that way. The zoom out and zoom in could be a bit smoother though. Does that remove loading screens over larger distances too?

[Josh Sabatini]

The zoom out and zoom in could be a bit smoother though.

It would be if it was hard coded into the game, and not me scrolling the mouse-wheel.

Does that remove loading screens over larger distances too?

I don't see why it couldn't. The engine probably would not have to resume play until after the entire trip plays out.

When I made that clip I just traveled from Megaton to Vault 101 (there was a reason at the time ~no idea what, anymore).
I might remake this one to travel from Ten Penny to Rivet City ~sometime.

[alicia hillier]

It would be if it was hard coded into the game, and not me scrolling the mouse-wheel.

I see. Considering it was done by hand that wasn't so bad.

I don't see why it couldn't. The engine probably would not have to resume play until after the entire trip plays out.

When I made that clip I just traveled from Megaton to Vault 101 (there was a reason at the time ~no idea what, anymore).
I might remake this one to travel from Ten Penny to Rivet City ~sometime.

If it does that would be a great addition. I never really had any problems with fast travel seeming like teleportation, but showing that would make it be like an actual trip to the location rather suddenly popping up with a loading screen in between the journey.

[Maria Garcia]

If it does that would be a great addition. I never really had any problems with fast travel seeming like teleportation, but showing that would make it be like an actual trip to the location rather suddenly popping up with a loading screen in between the journey.

I've never understood why it was [and still is!?] so often mistaken for 'magical' teleportation, instead of the unattended walk ~that it is.

My only problem with Bethesda's map travel, is that it's been broken since Oblivion; it does not take expiring timers into account, or passage through dangerous (or impassable) terrain. In Fallout, if you came to a point where you could not walk beyond ~travel ceased, and you had to choose a different direction.

[Ludivine Poussineau]

Here's an example of how I'd like the map for Fallout 4 to work like: http://gabriel77cortez.deviantart.com/gallery/?q=map#/d4i0a8z
We have explorable areas that are the size of Honest Hearts, these generally contain many enemies and crafting materials.
Then we have the actual cities/towns, these are the size of The Pitt or The Strip+Freeside+Westside+NorthSquare.
After that we have quest locations that are the size of Satellite Array Station, think of it like Smiley's Cavern, Golgotha or the Enclave deal with one of the Reno families.
And finally we have outside dungeons, which are found either through dialogue, quests, maps or exploring the world map yourself.

This way we have explorable area, dungeons and cities in decent sizes and we don't have one map that is cramped full of stuff as each square is several miles in distance.

[Makenna Nomad]

Here's an example of how I'd like the map for Fallout 4 to work like: http://gabriel77cortez.deviantart.com/gallery/?q=map#/d4i0a8z

The map doesn't even need to be that stuffed. Not that I disagree with the idea, though. I mean that you could well have several HH (or so) sized areas inside one "city node" alone. I would imagine a setup where the hub is built to scale as close to 1:1 as possible and divided into few internal hubs (at distance from each other). Imagine, if - for examples sake - the game took place (among other locations) in Boston. You'd have 3 (different and naturally bordered) hubs within the city, and probably offered a "vista point" of sorts from which you could see the the scale (like http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100712045816/halofanon/images/7/7e/Ruined_city_w.jpg for instance) of the matter rather than being limited to compressed cityscapes that take 5 minutes to walk across.

[Lisa]

Radiant AI

Skyrim brought it back some, but it was a simpler version. People might fight over things you dropped. If you attacked or killed someone they would send thugs after you. It added a lot to the game. But more can be done.

No it didn't. Infact Skyrim (or perhaps FO3 would be more appropriate, though I dunno if anyone expected radiant AI from FO3) axed the little "radiant" AI Oblivion had.

People sending thugs is purely chance based. People fighting over things dropped, the people of Riften do it, others typically don't. Certain NPCs are programmed to do it, others aren't. It's moreso scripted rather than left up to an equation the NPC has to check on.

Radiant AI, to me, says that NPCs do certain actions depending on a variety of factors. For example I recall an NPC in Oblivion who, when I had raised his disposition, came to my aid in battle, whereas when it was neutral he didn't care nor bother to help me. Other NPCs I befriended would run irregardless because their courage stat was low. Guards might also look the other way for my crimes, friends might not care if I rob them or others depending on their morality stat, etc etc etc.

Disposition, morality, Fame/Infamy and Courage. Together, the reactions of NPCs to situations were unpredictable because it was hard to pinpoint when an NPC would act a certain way or not.
Skyrim? Skyrim had two factors: like and indifferent. NPCs that like you might say nice things, NPCs that don't particularly like you act normal. Hired thugs has nothing to do with an NPC liking you or not, and people fighting over items depends on the NPC, i.e. some are directly programmed to fight over items, others are indifferent, some others return it. Very FEW return items only if they like you.

Without the disposition stat being a dynamic number, but rather simply "did he do my personal quest or not, if so I like him," then very little changes. There's no equation deciding what they do. Certain NPCs fight over dropped items, others don't care, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlgtgwndH1s might send hired thugs after you.


My point is, don't expect radiant AI. It's not gonna happen. If Oblivion had it (to an extent) and the FO3 and Skyrim don't, I think the message is clear. If you THINK Skyrim has radiant AI and you like it's system of doing things, then good for you, cause Skyrim's system might return. However, I promise you that if you make ~6 Skyrim characters right now and drop items/steal items, I promise you you'll see a clear-cut consistency in which NPCs fight over dropped items and which don't, whereas Hired Thugs will seem completely random.

[Noely Ulloa]

http://www.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/2012/08/21/fallout-4-7-things-a-boston-setting-could-bring/#gallery-top

I assume this may have been posted but well if not, then enjoy it

[Laura Simmonds]

I don't understand what you mean by realtime travel through the nodes. Do you mean like it was in the originals, where you enter the node, travel some, then go through a metro tunnel, cutscene or whatever to get to the next. Or would it be realtime through the entire map?

Have you played TES Arena? It had randomly generated ( generates as you go) terrain outside cities that went on forever. Though in Daggerfall and Arcanum you had nodes with vast pregenerated (generated once and saved) terrain between places of interest. You could either walk the whole way or use map travel.

[Robert Bindley]

Have you played TES Arena? It had randomly generated ( generates as you go) terrain outside cities that went on forever. Though in Daggerfall and Arcanum you had nodes with vast pregenerated (generated once and saved) terrain between places of interest. You could either walk the whole way or use map travel.

IIRC, it supposedly would take about 48 [real] hours to walk from coast to coast in Arcanum.

I've had many posts over the last four years, advocating procedural terrain for the in-between spaces; the Wasteland outside of any major town or settlement.
And not just sagebrush, hills, and tumbleweeds either, but suburban ruins, schools, abandoned industrial parks; water slides, gas stations; subway terminals... all sorts of secondary locations that have nothing to do with the main quest. These places could have loot, could be inhabited (by animals or squatters). Implementing them could mean having a vast wasteland that took days or weeks to cross, and could also pave the way for vehicular travel.

[Reanan-Marie Olsen]

Fallout 4 Suggestions:

Node map system with multiple DLC sized areas. diverse generated terrain larger than those in FO1/2 but smaller than POI's in between.

More places with higher level enemies like quarry junction. The vaults, caves, and above ground areas should all have a certain difficulty level to them.

The world(s) should be more varied. Cliffs, canyons, mountains, etc that are hard to traverse and dont have obviously marked paths. Enemy settlements should also be designed with more logic in mind and not so vulnerable. However, there should be hidden vulnerabilities that a clever player can sniff out. Also, less random npc's running around everywhere. I don't like running in to something hostile every few feet.

Points of interest should only appear on the compass if they have been clearly seen in the players field of view but at what distance depends on perception.

Enemy compass markers should only appear behind you if they make noise or if you have high perception. Same with in front but if they are in the FOV theres a bonus.

Explosive ammunition explodes when shot

More CC options. (muscle/fat sliders, topical details(scars, moles, etc.) hair length and more hair types and body hair.

Medicine should be a usable skill like FO1/2 but should be a menu like used in MGS3 where you have to treat each wound. So if you broke your leg, instead of just sticking a stimpack in it, you'd need a splint and bandage, if youre shot, you need a knife to get the bullet if its still inside, and a bandage. Oh and things like splints can be crafted.

Stimpacks (and other drugs) should do what they do in NV hardcoe mode but should be very rare, and have a limited number of uses before it becomes unsafe to use (over dosing.) However, you can have a chance based on endurance to not OD.

More weapon mods than there are in NV, and the ability to experiment with different objects in order to make new, unique mods.
Example:
rusty nail+hammer+bat=nail bat.

Underwater combat. Not being able to swing a melee weapon underwater is stupid and it causes NPCs in water to swim into each other endlessly. They still haven't figured this out in Skyrim.

Killable kids or none at all. It isn't illegal, and if your worried about backslash, anyone playing FALLOUT shouldn't care. Anyone that does care that much has no business playing mature video games in the first place, and anyone not playing the game already, doesn't matter. Grow some balls Bethesda.

More things like hit squads from negative OR positive reputation.
+Instead of sending high level assassins right away, the level of difficulty should scale with your reputation or 'crime gold.' So first they could hire bounty hunters, mercenaries, etc...

Full weather cycles. (cloudy, sunny,rain,windy) <--with any mixture of those. Also temperature levels and humidity and have those things have affects on thirst and status ailments.

Camping gear. (portable tent, fire, rest-able bed) but this should be an expensive, mid-game item.

Remove the lock picking and hacking mini games and make them usable at any time with success based on their respective skills + luck.

Lower the fricken rag doll physics. People shouldn't fly across the room from a 10mm gun shot.

[Taylor Bakos]

Just read a post from some user reddit gaming. It's all rumors though so don't believe me or well actually what that user said.



" The rumors are true, Fallout 4 will take place in Boston. In case you haven't heard, Bethesda has recently been scoping out and researching Boston. They also have a strong connection to MIT. I may or may not be an MIT employee. But that's really all I can say for fear of losing my job.
I am telling you it will take place in Boston. Whether you believe me or not, how do you feel about a Fallout Boston? "

Umm well Boston sounds nice i guess.

[Josh Lozier]

If things like the implants are brought back in, then I hope for the ability to procure them for companions as well. In NV, I think getting Cass the End. Implant should have been a viable option due to her heart problem she inherited from the previous Cassidy. Could have been an unmarked s.quest/achievment called something silly like, "Awww, so you do care."

Or getting Raul the Phx. Implant (if it'd respond well to a ghouls physiology.)

[N Only WhiTe girl]

I want diseases and more damage effects to be available for the player character and NPC's.
If you step on a rusty Bear Trap you should contract some form of disease.
Molerats are pretty measly, so adding a chance to become inflicted by a disease might make them more "fearsome".
Bleed effect would be nice, it does a continuous -1hp every 3 seconds until you use a doctors bag or visit a doctor. Bandages can also be used but they are exclusive to bleed wounds.
Punctured lungs, cracked ribs, shellshock, strained muscles.

My point is, make Medicine worth taking. Not just some mere bonus to stimpaks and chems.
This doesn't mean that you will get a -effect every 10 minutes, but you will suffer enough to make Medicien a skill worthwhile taking.
Though I'd prefer it if we split it to Doctor and First Aid. FA being for milder wounds and general healing whereas Doctor is used for the more serious wounds.