Fallout 4: Speculations & Suggestions,

Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 7:55 am

I can see caravans running fixed routes allowing the PC to travel to parts unknown, or travel with less personal risk; but not as the method of travel. The player should be able to choose to return to town and pick up the game there (unless attacked on the way, or unless the PC's stats/karma offer a neat event/location to explore/survive).

Personally, I'd like to see "hand-made" major locations (like towns & settlements) interconnected by vast swaths of OPTIONAL generated terrain and encounters (AKA: wasteland). Where the PC can set out to a known (or at least partially known) location, and have an overland view that is somewhat like the map in the Indiana Jones films; having only to worry about random encounters on the way, or to be avoided if the PC's stats are sufficient to allow it. This ~or the option to walk/ride/drive the whole way in realtime if they reeely wanted to (the incentive being... make certain special encounters and locations only discoverable by realtime exploration).
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Celestine Stardust
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 3:15 pm

hopefully they add some kind of vehicle system for travel

in a map the size of fallout 3's map, vehicles would be impractical
but if instead of one big map they separate certain areas from each other by a procedural generated wasteland in which you drive your motorcycle/truck/buggy/brahmin/whatever



Area One(Quests and dungeons) --- Wasteland in which to drive through obstacles and whatnot :nuke: --- Area 2(More content) :fallout:
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Lil Miss
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 9:08 pm

I think Fallout 4 should continue using Fallout 3's fast-travel system. It is optional, in both Fallout 3 and Oblivion.




I disagree, I think that they should move to a caravan (etc) based travel, where you have to pay for fast travel and you can only travel between settlements or whwre ever the caravan goes. Best possible option would be a wolrdmap travel like in the previous games with the nodes being about 1.5-2 times the size of point lookout. And if the world is build that way they can even include cars without turning the game into a GTA mess.

The Fallout 3/Oblivion fast travel doesn't do justification to the setting (both TES and FO). It being optional has nothing to do with the implementation, as I want to fast travel. It's a simple, immersion breaking and cheap alternative to somehting that actually makes the player involved in the situation and should not be continued.
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Cesar Gomez
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 10:27 am

I disagree, I think that they should move to a caravan (etc) based travel, where you have to pay for fast travel and you can only travel between settlements or whwre ever the caravan goes. Best possible option would be a wolrdmap travel like in the previous games with the nodes being about 1.5-2 times the size of point lookout. And if the world is build that way they can even include cars without turning the game into a GTA mess.

The Fallout 3/Oblivion fast travel doesn't do justification to the setting (both TES and FO). It's a simple, immersion breaking and cheap alternative to somehting that actually makes the player involved in the situation and should not be continued.


I have to? I don't want to have to. Why should I have to pay to use a game mechanic? Not only would I have to pay, but I could only travel to certain points from certain points. That doesn't sound good. Also, no to the second part of your post. Fallout 4 should never have Fallout 1 and 2's system. Realize that the Fallout series is now Betheda's, and that's not Bethesda's style.
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Rude Gurl
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 9:45 am

I disagree, I think that they should move to a caravan (etc) based travel, where you have to pay for fast travel and you can only travel between settlements or whwre ever the caravan goes.


In Fallout 1 and 2 you're actually paid to travel with the caravan and defend it from various attackers.

Fallout 4 should never have Fallout 1 and 2's system. Realize that the Fallout series is now Betheda's, and that's not Bethesda's style.


Myself, I'd love for Bethesda to focus on TES and to outsource all future Fallout games to Obsidian. Hopefully New Vegas will be successful enough for Beth to consider it.
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Matthew Aaron Evans
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:38 pm

I have to? I don't want to have to. Why should I have to pay to use a game mechanic? Not only would I have to pay, but I could only travel to certain points from certain points. That doesn't sound good. Also, no to the second part of your post. Fallout 4 should never have Fallout 1 and 2's system. Realize that the Fallout series is now Betheda's, and that's not Bethesda's style.


Among other things it would give some meaning to money - which Fallout 3 and Oblivion do not have, as you'll become a millionare during the game and have nothing to spend your wealth to. And the game being a Bethesda game doesn't matter either, Isn't morrowind style - for example - a Bethesda style? More over, are you saying Bethesda can't evolve, and that they have a single style that can not never ever change? There is no saying how good a game they'd come up with a different system, if they'll never try.


Myself, I'd love for Bethesda to focus on TES and to outsource all future Fallout games to Obsidian. Hopefully New Vegas will be successful enough for Beth to consider it.


Agreed.
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Undisclosed Desires
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 7:38 pm

And they already adapted some of the Fallout mechanics to their style, it's not as if they can't adapt some more of them.
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Stephanie Valentine
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:20 am

I disagree, I think that they should move to a caravan (etc) based travel, where you have to pay for fast travel and you can only travel between settlements or whwre ever the caravan goes. Best possible option would be a wolrdmap travel like in the previous games with the nodes being about 1.5-2 times the size of point lookout. And if the world is build that way they can even include cars without turning the game into a GTA mess.

The Fallout 3/Oblivion fast travel doesn't do justification to the setting (both TES and FO). It's a simple, immersion breaking and cheap alternative to somehting that actually makes the player involved in the situation and should not be continued.

There simply has to be a happy medium to be found in this issue. Because I seriously cannot see myself playing a game where I'm forced to trudge around on foot to the nearest "warp point," just to be able to quickly get to where I was headed in the first place. (ie, if I want to get from point A to point B, I really don't want to instead be forced to go from A to C, which warps me to D, just so that I can walk all the rest of the way to B.) A "caravan-only" method does just that, however. To me, that adds extra time that I'd rather be spending on those elements of the game that are actually enjoyable. I consider any time a game becomes tedious and less-than-fun, to be a flaw in it's design (the whole point is be entertained, after all...)

And, of course, many players feel that not having the fast travel system fully integrated into the game world, to be "immsersion-breaking."

Let's break this down a bit, then. No matter what system you use to quickly get from one already-explored area to another (because I don't think there's much of an issue, here, with the player needing to have actually visited a location before they're able to fast-travel there,) all you're really doing is entering a load screen, and finding yourself at your destination. If we take a "caravan" system (and by "caravan" I mean any sort of warp point - trains, buses, taxis, caravans, etc,) then you walk up to the caravan, select where you want to go on some sort of World Map, and then you hit a load screen. In Fallout 3-style fast-travelling, you open up a World Map, select where you're going, and hit a load screen.

Really, the only difference then - in gameplay terms - is that in method you have to go to a fixed point before the load screen (and presumably can only travel to other fixed points,) and in the other you have to be outside and not in combat (but can otherwise go to pretty much wherever you want - so long as you've already been there.) Now, we can assume that the primary form of transportation in the Wastes is going to be your own two feet - there's not likely to be any place in Fallout 4 that you can't get there by simply walking your character physically to that location. So personally, I'd find that it would break my "immersion" just as much to have to deal with a game mechanic that forced me to use vehicle transportation (ie, caravans and such) just to quickly get me to a place that I could just as easily walk.

The only difference we're talking about here is in-game time spent travelling, then. Anywhere that a caravan would be able to fast-travel me to is a place that I should be able to fast-walk to just as easily. That just makes sense. And the whole point of having any method of "instantly" getting from place to place is to make things easier and not bog the player down. In other words - caravan travel and "fast-walking" (ie, Fallout 3 where the game compresses time and assumes that your character has walked that intervening distance - calculating how much time has passed during this action,) are the same thing. They only differ in presentation.

So, to avoid "immersion-breaking," I think it might be fair to venture a guess that the only thing lacking is presentation. If there was some way for the game to present the fact that your character had just taken a long trek on foot across the wasteland; that time passed, and nothing of note happened along the way - then I don't think it would be as much of a problem to people. We could still have caravan modes of travel, as well. There could be nice bonuses to that - like different random (or decreased chances of) encounters, more assistance for dealing with those encounters; or any number of things. There could be a clear advantage to taking a caravan to the next town or waypoint. But there also needs to be a viable option for (in my case) the other 90% of the game, where the place you're actually headed is nowhere near where one of these "waypoints" would feasably be located in the first place.

So, instead of trying to choose one at the expense of the other - I think it might be a better solution to try and come up with a system wherein both methods of fast travel could co-exist with each other - where the inclusion of both actually complement each other and serve to make a better game for everyone.

That's my idea, at least...
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DAVId MArtInez
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 1:15 pm

For me, awlking in the wasteland is about tactics...seeing them before they see you, and maneuvering to avoid or to choose the terrain for the battle.

For me, it should be a feature of the PC's stats and skills to allow that to happen. I was playing "Realms of Arkania 2" yesterday, and loved the fact that my PC had a chance at spotting concealed traps (if they were able), or that my thief could spend time robbing a tavern, and not getting caught was based on how good a pick-pocket or a card cheat that they were ~or that by boosting a PC's skill at dance or instrument playing, could then net them tips in the bar (or boos and disgust if unskilled). I'd have not much liked trying to control their dance in first person, rather than letting their skill at the task dictate their success or failure. IMO Fallout 4 should make more of a return to its foundations (and thus regain a greater scope and potential to what can occur in the game).
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Britney Lopez
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 7:21 pm

For me, it should be a feature of the PC's stats and skills to allow that to happen.


Which is the case in FO1 and 2, as I mentioned before.
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quinnnn
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 7:50 pm

So, to avoid "immersion-breaking," I think it might be fair to venture a guess that the only thing lacking is presentation. If there was some way for the game to present the fact that your character had just taken a long trek on foot across the wasteland; that time passed, and nothing of note happened along the way - then I don't think it would be as much of a problem to people. We could still have caravan modes of travel, as well. There could be nice bonuses to that - like different random (or decreased chances of) encounters, more assistance for dealing with those encounters; or any number of things. There could be a clear advantage to taking a caravan to the next town or waypoint. But there also needs to be a viable option for (in my case) the other 90% of the game, where the place you're actually headed is nowhere near where one of these "waypoints" would feasably be located in the first place.

So, instead of trying to choose one at the expense of the other - I think it might be a better solution to try and come up with a system wherein both methods of fast travel could co-exist with each other - where the inclusion of both actually complement each other and serve to make a better game for everyone.


That's a good idea and would solve the issue for me, though I would prefer the worldmap travel that has/needs no teleportation fasttravel methods.

E - Meaning the there should be a visible presentation via advantages and disadvantages implemented in the fast travel system part.
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James Shaw
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 4:17 pm

what about a sprint option for when your in combat? maybe some kind of cover system?
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Emmi Coolahan
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 6:31 pm

just came to me

how about if u can chose your back story which just changes the starting tutorial and how people talk to u (like dragonage origins)

1 could be a vault dweller start the same as fallout 3
2nd could be that your born in the wasteland town and maybe in gets attaced by slavers so u hav to leave (making for a interesting side mission to save your family)
3rd could be your born prewar and end up turning into a goul by the atomic bombs (could show ure self turning into a goul slowly)
4th maybe u could be born into the enclave for ppl who know theyre goin to be evil or born into the BOS for those who know theyre goin to be good
5th orphan in the big city

ooo plus how about if u need to eat and drink or ull die
make it feel like u actually have to survive in the wastelandby finding something to eat and drink
itll also make resturants in the game actually have a point to them

just a thought
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Solène We
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 11:27 am

what about a sprint option for when your in combat? maybe some kind of cover system?


Yep definately need a sprint option, duration increases with agilty. I'd like to be able to lay prone for sniper chars aswell.
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ladyflames
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 9:41 pm

MUTANT BIRDS!!!!!!!!!

things like winged Deathclaws just about, that fly at independent heights (not like boats fly's how its a constant height) and they have the ability to pick you up, and if you get captured, you have to kill it b4 your too high up or no matter what, your as good as dead, unless your over a large body of water...that would make things like taking cover and using guerilla tactics at lower levels an essential skill.

and they gotta be able to fly at various speeds, depending on decent rate and what not.

Oh, and a HUGE map...like oh, I dunno...4-5 times the size of FO3's map, and like large area's are pretty much death zones for all except the most experienced men, and others are lifeless, desolate desserts, and the crossing of which is a feat of survival.
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Strawberry
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 5:25 pm

i want better graphics, more reason to use unarmed/melee, bigger world, more towns, better/bigger towns, harder challenge, new weapons, new armors, more items, easier modding
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latrina
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:34 am

ooo plus how about if u need to eat and drink or ull die
make it feel like u actually have to survive in the wastelandby finding something to eat and drink
itll also make resturants in the game actually have a point to them

just a thought


dieing from thirst or hunger seams like injecting a bit to much realism, however I could agree on a system where you get worst and worst temporary debuffs to skills and attributes if you don?t eat and drink.
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Hope Greenhaw
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 1:22 pm

I don't think eating, drinking, and sleeping needs to be something that we make mandatory; or something else that the player needs to keep track of. Sure, it sounds good on paper, but I'm assuming Fallout 4 will end up playing quite a bit like Fallout 3 did, and I just have a feeling that adding one meter for the player to keep track of would get tedious. I could foresee, if you suffered stat penalties or HP loss because you hadn't eaten or drank or in awhile to be one of those things where I wouldn't even notice it until I was wondering why my stats and HP weren't where they were supposed to be.

Honestly, rather than looking at applying detriments to ignoring things like eating and drinking and such; I rather liked the mechanic for sleeping in Fallout 3. In that you don't get penalized for keeping your character awake for days at a time, but that you'd get the Well Rested bonus for having slept in a bed for a length of time. That way, if it's important to me, it's something where I can try and keep my character as rested as possible - but that I'm not suffering for it if I'm in the middle of a dungeon and don't feel like looking for a bed that second.

As far as food and water is concerned, that's already implemented into the game mechanics - you gain health by eating and drinking food and water. If Stimpaks were in shorter supply, then you'd probably be keeping your character fed and hydrated regularly enough (just through healing after combat,) that chances are you wouldn't really need to be worrying about starving to death or dying of thirst. I think that's probably the more elegant solution - make Simpaks be highly prized, near-magical, and quite rare items that you save for when you really need them most; or to heal yourself from crippling effects.

If food and water were to be the primary source of healing your character throughout the game, then scavenging and hording as much of those as you could would end up being a constant element of gameplay. And I think more than monitoring your food consumption, that's probably what players are really interested in - not so much the keeping track of another health-related meter, but driving home the dire situation of the Wasteland by finding food and water wherever it's available.
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Neko Jenny
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:20 am

I'd enjoy a good bar fight that relied on hand to hand combat implemented into the quest line.

Mutant Birds would be cool, especially if they were immune to certain attacks and dropped exotic equipment cause they probably fly everywhere, and were weak to shotguns. However I would really enjoy having an outdoor environment like Oblivion with harmless creatures like deer and not deadly birds. Maybe they werent turned into aggressive killing machines by the radiation and maybe gained a boost in reproduction allowing them to survive. I always enjoyed running through the forests in Oblivion with maxed agility hunting deer with fists. Hunting critters could be a means of income and entertainment.

I would enjoy some changes in sniper characterizations such as maintaining a similar color scheme with the environment will effect detection and stealth. The ability to do badass things like recon and maybe even having to account for environmental aspects like wind storms and rain storms and caves (typically echo making it harder to locate the origin of sounds). I know many argue that it becomes too complicated but maybe if the complexity was more realistic on higher difficulties. I found myself seeing how far a shot i could take down Super Mutants with after beating the game several times. Of course being a sniper needs some cons to like speed having to travel light, less aware of action occurring out of the snipers view (like behind him), being more susceptible to explosions (one fear for snipers are mortar crews shooting blind that might get lucky) and maybe even social distrust (typically someone who can drop you at 1500 yards is a bit frightening and intimidating). Also assassination kills not like Assassins Creed but the option to do a stealth kill like slicing the throat for infiltration gameplay. Also the ability to have a tripod or something for stabilization that would infringe movement but increase accuracy and thus distance. Also a ballistic round or perk for snipers would be plain awesome, i'm a hunter and it is always surprising what a nylon tipped bullet will do to a deer's rib cage compared to a lead tipped.

Sorry about the sniper rant but this is just something that i thought might give a touch of reality to another wasteland settlement like megaton is having the entrance be those jaw like door things on the back of garbage trucks. I think a raider settlement would make most of use of it with graffiti to make it look like a mouth or animal. Just a thought on making the game more worldly.

1 could be a vault dweller start the same as fallout 3
2nd could be that your born in the wasteland town and maybe in gets attaced by slavers so u hav to leave (making for a interesting side mission to save your family)
3rd could be your born prewar and end up turning into a goul by the atomic bombs (could show ure self turning into a goul slowly)
4th maybe u could be born into the enclave for ppl who know theyre goin to be evil or born into the BOS for those who know theyre goin to be good
5th orphan in the big city
As much as i love Dragon age and Mass Effect, I like the games to maintain their differences so that when i swap between the two i dont feel as if im playing the same game. And it also keeps the game from being overly complicated with having to estimate the very long term side effects of a decision made very early on in the game ( i dont want to make some dumb mistake and find out later that it prevented me from doing something).

Also I just have to say props to the wasteland radio and songs for it, that really made the game feel as though it was for that time period. Maybe the option to upload or download more songs (FOR FREE) from live or the internet maybe even have some new wasteland inspired songs sung by a deep country ghouls band.

And lastly i want to learn more about what happened to the rest of the world, it couldnt have all gone to hell... well completely. maybe even have a quest line that involves a confrontation with a foreign soldier that crossed the sea or something much like desmond in point lookout mentioning the great game between world spies.
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flora
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 11:49 am

i want better graphics, more reason to use unarmed/melee, bigger world, more towns, better/bigger towns, harder challenge, new weapons, new armors, more items, easier modding

so, pretty much a bigger and betetr game in every way imaginable...? *claps* grate brain usage...:P
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Baby K(:
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 4:55 pm

I'd rather better situations than graphics... and better support for choices that are based on the PC's stats and past decisions; and better support in general for non FPP mode (IE. functional combat in TPP instead of the PC always aiming at the ground).
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Conor Byrne
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:34 am

I think having to eat/drink and sleep would add to immersion, but it could be optional. Like a "Realism Options" option on the pause screen. Just a thought.
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Sunny Under
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 1:21 pm

I'm not a big fan of hunger/thirst systems. To use a recent example; in Mask of the Betrayer I was always so concerned about the spirit meter that I didn't feel I had much time to really enjoy everything as well as I could have if I weren't on such a rapid timer.
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JESSE
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 4:09 pm

The need to eat, drink (and sleep) was very common in the old RPGs.
In my opinion it is one of those features that was abandoned for a good reason.
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loste juliana
 
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Post » Wed Dec 01, 2010 10:11 am

i dunno..

if you havent slept in game for a while it would be cool if it lowered your percetion, strength, agility and inteligence.
and if food were implemented, it would make it more fo a challenge. currently you can just use as many stipm packs as you want to boos up your health, take away crippled limbs.. foodstuffs were mostly useless in the latest go... im not saying make them life or death.. but make the lack of sleep or your hunger detract a bit from overall stats..
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Jay Baby
 
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