Yeah, I was thinking along the lines of those games when I was thinking about it. There was also KillSwitch, which worked well, too. Basically you've got a button that either works on a toggle or while pressed down, that "sticks" you to a section of cover. From there you can look around and set up your next target without exposing yourself, and then fire from that position as well, allowing you to fire will keeping as much of yourself behind cover as possible.

That's a bit of an optimistic stance to think that the AI will automatically get better with a cover system. They'll duck into cover and shoot blind, then pop up to die, heh, like in most other games. But anyway, I use cover already, I'll back up to a wall or a piece of wreckage and hide behind it, it didn't make the combat feel tactical though (takes far more than a cover to make the combat tactical). Putting in tricky AI and all the trappings that you get in a modern FPS though, is going to make that frustrating at times for the non-twitchy RPGer. If I had to make a change to combat though, I'd prefer tougher opponents just in terms of their HP, so to speak.

I'd rather have a more natural way of doing it: There is some cover. Get behind it. If you are standing, damage taken is reduced by a base amount. Crouching doubles that base amount, and prone adds to that. We can tweak amounts and percentages to balance gameplay.

A more accurate way to do it would be to calculate the percentage of your body that's visible and use that amount, but that sounds too complicated. Regardless, there should be those thredd shooting stances. If it takes a second of gametime (and AP in vats) to move from one stance to the next, then the tactical challenge becomes to balance the benefits of the stance with the liabilities. That is, being prone may improve accuracy and cover, but leave you very vulnerable to melee attack.

PvP in WoW is twitchy. I don't see what i consider basic elements of tactics as twitchy. Note that the only FPS I have ever played is Stalker. And with my sloth like, half a century old reflexes...If I can do it, most folks who post here shouldn't ahve much of a problem.

Since Fallout will probably never use a turn based combat system again i'd at least like to see them make a comprimise and maybe go a WEGO route for the next game.It would give agility back its dodge modifier and allow the player to see how their skills are affecting combat.It would also allow for using cover and better(more believable)inventory use in combat and allow APs to be for something more than a shooting cycle.Maybe throw in the ability to save a fight so you can rewatch it afterwards from different angles.I know this idea is a pipedream.

A more robust use of SPECIAL.Such as a character with a high perception has a chance to notice things most people wouldn't.

A revamp of the economy and weight system.

A wider or better yet more original array of enemies and add in ones that are not hostile on sight.

Towns that are a bit more believable in size and population for the fact that they can survive with enemies surrounding them that must outnumber them 100-1.On top of needing them as a recruiting pool.As the Mutants and Raiders both have to draw off the population of these settlements.

Multilayered or overlapping sidequests.Fallout 2 did a good job of weaving quite a few quests together or giving you reasons to go back to a town other than unload loot and sleep after you thought you finished up in one.

I could probably think of several more.

That's not how AI works in a good cover-based system - it gives the AI something else to do other than blindly run around, for one. Also, running in front of a wall doesn't offer quite the same advantages as when there's a mechanic worked into the game for it. You can't set your shots up before popping back out to shoot, for one. Or use that view to get an idea of where your opponents are. Adding in some tactics for them to use besides "run around like crazy" isn't going to make them any more prone to stupid maneuvers like shooting at random, any more than it's currently set up.

You're saying that adding in the standard trappings of current-gen shooters is going to make the game too twitchy, and giving the enemies more intuitive tactics would frustrate non-twitch players. Yet I get the feeling you would also like improved enemy AI so that they're not shooting at walls. Frankly, these games are easier for me to figure out when the enemies do roughly what I would expect them to do. This randomly running around stuff (or just rushing straight at you) that I get for the most part in Fallout 3 is more frustrating than if the enemies used cover in a moderately realistic manner.

I honestly can't imagine anyone saying "Why do the enemies have to carefully and systematically try to manuever into strategic locations instead of just running wildly and trying to get behind me?

That can get you into some real problems, too, though. Eventually it stops making the combat harder and just makes it more annoying. Like Mass Effect at the hardest difficulties - you could blast enemies with your tank's cannons, blasting them over the horizon, and it would barely make a dent in them. It became a matter of trying to keep the enemies in your sights long enough to do any actual damage than providing any sort of added strategies - in fact it usually took away from it and encouraged standing in one place out in the open trying to keep your fire focused on one character at a time.

I'd rather go with lower HP for the player character, if anything - or greater damage from NPCs. That'd make it harder while also encouraging more intelligent use of the game's mechanics to stay alive.

Also, for me it's easier having a button worry about getting me into cover - otherwise I have to spend time figuring out how to position myself the right way, and I can't check out my situation without bringing myself out of cover (there's not even a "peak" button like in the Half-Life type games.) As a less twitchy player myself, I'd rather have a "panic button" I can press to get myself out of trouble - it's one extra button, at most, to implement - these days I don't think that's going to be much of a hindrance.

Anyway, I'll move onfrom this because you and I aren't going to have anything to say that's not just repeating ourselves once again.

That's fairly close to how it works currently - the chance to hit a body part you're targeting is modified by what percentage of the part is exposed (which is why it's easier to hit the leading leg, or the arm that's facing you in VATs.) So crouching behind cover is going to have an actual effect.

I also think crouching raises your accuracy to some degree. And it'll make you a little harder to hit as well, I think.

i want throw weapons back
also i want a bloody joke for pepsi i mean theres nuka cola why not nukesi

A much wider array of weapons as well as weapon attachments like makeshift scopes, suppressors, or laser sights. I would also like to see guilds. AND WOMEN WITHOUT UPPER LIP HAIR!

Well that's a way AI can work, not going to automatically make AI better just by giving them the option to cover and blind fire. They just have one more thing they'll always do, instead of the bumrushing we see here. Well ok, I guess it's better as they're not running around blindly or charging at you. And most of those cover mechanics make gameplay really easy too, being able to set up a shot while under cover or being able to spot over the cover and watch them move around. My point was the game becoming so twitchy that in the end, we're looking at a different hybrid that what we have now. Mind you, I sense you'd be fine with that, though.

Fallout 3 was an amazing experience well worth my time and money. But it still has some room for improvement, here's some modest suggestions.

Mature elements worthy of the dark post apocalyptic ambiance and the Fallout franchise (You know what I mean, we're not even allowed to discuss them in this forum, it's funny)

No invulnerable people. It ruins everything. The quests must be dynamic and we should face the consequences of our actions.

Repair and Speech systems rebalanced. For some people it goes like low speech skill and just Speech > Quick load > Speech > Quick load etc

More side quests, as much as possible. I love all quests in F3, the more the better.

Continuing the game after the main scenario ends.

Some minor revamps so that people wake up and start comparing it with other RPG's instead of "pew pew" shooters and shallow action games.

No Games for Windows Live pretty please. I still haven't purchased OA because of it and I have no intention.

I actually thought I was being pretty clear that I'm not a very twitchy gamer endowed with great reflexes, and that I prefer a thoughtful combat with a more deliberate pacing. I don't know where you're sensing that I want a more fast-paced combat experience, here.

Oh, well.

Something else I'd like is some more in-depth companions, as well. I'm not talking about Bioware-style romance options, necessarily. Just to have the companions make more of a difference than they do now. I sort of missed that from the original games, with your buddies having something to say about some of the places you visit, and even interacting with other characters in the game world.

It would be nice if when you've had someone in your part long enough that they might open up about their history a little bit, or comment on the current situation at times, etc. Otherwise they just kind of serve as another set of guns and someone else to draw enemy fire on occasion.

And while we're on it, some more options you could select for their combat preferences and inventory management, etc. (Fallout 2 was a good step in that direction.)

Well the thing is, cover system isn't making the game more significantly thoughtful than it is right now, and the pacing might end up being faster due to implementation rather than design. Given that you can cover and see around it, and sort of cheat that way, you'd probably end up fighting a lot more enemies to compensate for that, that and their use of cover, is going to result in a lot of movie-like gunplay, heh. I didn't say you were asking for a more fast paced, just that I sensed you'd probably be ok with it in the end.

Really, that's what you do with sniping anyway. If I find a good place to snipe from, I can typically destroy all of them...say an enclave patrol, before they even get close to me. The problem with the current mechanics for snipers is that just because the crosshair is clear of cover, that doesn't mean you get a clean shot. That's why we need a LEAN function, or at least a cleanup of line of sight mechanics.

Or iron sights to at least.

That too.

All requests added.

Ironsights, I mean how could they not have added them for God's sake.

i didnt say no complex level design, i just thought raven rock didnt fit with what it was meant to be.

Same thing.

Why exactly should it be in the UK ? And as for the Raven Rock, the design was just bad, not that it was complex.

quote name='Malcador' date='Feb 16 2009, 01:14 PM' post='13824776']
Why exactly should it be in the UK ? And as for the Raven Rock, the design was just bad, not that it was complex.
[/quote]

I couldn't understand why the president was at the very top of the base.The most important "person" in the base was right down the hall from where any breach of it would occur.The layout seemed backwards where the barrcacks,mess,detention area should have been on the upper levels and the more vital areas,such as the war room and presidential AI,being below.

Anyway i said i could think of a few more things for a wishlist.

The ability to use inventory items on characters outside of the dialouge or trade menu,at least the aid items.Teammates don't always heal up after a battle and they don't always use the stimpacks you give them to heal themselves of crippling wounds until the next fight.Or say i just want to have a few beers or shots of whiskey with them.

Since i didn't give a reason for my economy/weight wish.Everything is too plentiful and cheap in the game from ammo to stims to armor and weapons.Also some misc. items should just be worthless,like destroyed books,or are so common that they should be almost worthless if they do have a value.Firearms and armor should be rare and extremely expensive and costly,more so ones that are not in a poor state of upkeep.Weight,everything has weight.Weightless items make no sense and ammo should have a weight to it.Give ammo a weight of .1 per round or .2 for shotgun shells to at make up for the fact that they have bulk which is why no one runs around with 200 shotgun rounds or a 1000 pistol rounds unless they want to be carrying ammo canisters in each hand and wrapped in bandoliers from head to toe.

Bring back item descriptions.Sometimes its the small things that make a world seem more real.

Have the too hit stats actually make sense.Why do i miss someone from five feet away,when aiming at their torso with a 80% or higher chance but i can shoot a grenade in the hand with a ridicoulsly low percentage everytime from someone a hundred feet away?

Put back in weapon ranges.I'm tired of having a raider with a chinese pistol put every round into me from the next hillside but my 100 small gun skill character with a snipers rifle can't hit them.

Now this may be too complicated but make armor an either or proposistion.Either it is intact and stopping damage or it has been penetrated and is useless.Also bring back the different damage modifiers,or if they are there let us know what they are.If i'm in power armor,or any other kind of full body armor,then a mole rat should not be able to do chew on my character.

Let others covet my property.Its the wasteland life is cheap and hard,having something like clean water,food,ammo should attract attention and sometimes violence from others not just raiders.

No perks every level and less skill based perks.Also bring back traits,with all their pluses and minuses,and good and bad ones that can be gained from your actions.Intentional or not.

Redo repair and make weapon repairs based off of the skill that you have in that category instead of a generic repair all skill.Also make disarming traps based on explosives,even though all are not grenade traps.I have yet to fail a disarm trap check even with an explosives skill in the mid-teens.

Make it more difficult to achieve good or bad karma.Things that should affect it should be deeds that are so outright noble or evil as to deserve attention.Most of the actions that you carry out,good and bad,are for selfish reasons and even then understandable given the nature of the world you live in.Most characters should fall within a neutral karma range.

I went on a bit more than i thought i would.

I've got one for the list...take an idea from some of the early Xbox games and add in a do it yourself soundtrack function. Not all of us can put up with what they called music during the 50's..and yes I realize that for many the music is part of what adds flavor to the game but COME ON...couldn't the playlist AT LEAST have been bigger than the few songs put in? and more...encompassing?

Don't you have an mp3 player or something?

They had to license that music to use it in game. There are several mods out there to expand the play list, or to add your own songs, assuming you are playing on PC.

Well the 50's music is another design decision, not just something they chose. And you can always not listen to the radio - frankly the ambient music is pretty awful though. You can always just play music in the background as well, if you -need- to have it. I had a bit of fun playing the Quake 2 soundtrack when going through the tunnels, it sort of fit, heh.

Yes I know this, and my point is, that function should have been there already. And while other games have had soundtracks that could be put up with, I have found very few games that had music worth listening to. at least IMO. But then I'm also rather picky about music...

I don't get this fascination people have with music and games. I can understand the combination of the two, I enjoy listening to good music while I'm playing a game, depending on the game. But why do these games absolutely need a function to add new music to the playlist? Beth just wanted to get that '50s feeling for this game and to me they did a good job. I don't need a function to add my own music to the Enclave or GNR playlist, I'll just turn on my stereo if I must listen to other music. It wouldn't really fit Fallout if you go put death metal in the background, but whatever you fancy I guess. I just think it could ruin the atmosphere of Fallout 3 and that's probably why Beth didn't give us that option. Now, listening to your own music through an ingame radio in GTA4 for instance wouldn't be so much of a problem, but that's a very different game.