I’ve been thinking about Fallout 4 and whether pre-war guns & energy weapons should be rarer, be found in worse condition and pre-war ammo be pretty scarce? It’s now 200+ years since armageddon and there are still tons of guns lying around in pretty good nick, apart from hunting rifles of course.
My idea is to place a greater emphasis on hand crafted weapons; not just bows, knifes, spears and the like but also hand crafted guns, energy weapons and hand loaded junk ammo, similar to mods like these and the craftable unique weapons from fallout 3.

http://newvegas.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=39438
http://newvegas.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=41099

Pre-war arms would still be found and sold, and when repaired and maintained properly be of better quality and more powerful than hand crafted items, but would be much rarer and quite valuable. So even finding an old .357 would be quite an exciting haul.

I like to rp a survivalist type of character and think this would add another level of realism that perhaps could be part of hardcoe mode, which I hope returns.

Any thoughts on this?

I say everything should be more rarer (loot-wise) I mean, if you kill an enemy that happens to have the items, than great! But, there would be looters who probably have looted all of the loose items (Like the energy/pre-war guns).

They shouldnt be too rare sunce they could deffinantly survive but be a little more scarce and yes have more craftables

A lot more post-war made weapons, and I don't mean the finely crafted ones by the Gun Runners like the service rifles, although they are welcome as well, but I mean more weapons like what we see in Metro 2033 for example. And of course the old pipe rifle from the originals. Bring back crafting your own weapons, but rather more not as over the top ones like the Rock-It launcher. More like... yeah, building your own pipe rifle, and stuff like that. And... the railway rifle is always welcome back, teehee, I liked it, it's steampunk

As just mentioned, there is manufacturing of weapons.

However, a few things on conditions and looting: if a weapon is stored in a gun safe, it should be in pretty darn good condition. Not many looters could crack a safe like the hero can.

And as far as military bases or research facilities, note that for the first ten years or so it was lethal to be roaming around.

Eventually if exploring, and found some research or military base, again you need skills to get in and loot. As years go on, with more and more illiterate folk, seeing a base you may not know what it is. Can't read the sign that says Repconn or US Military. Now vault folk can read, but I'm just saying those who do the most looting, probably can't.

Basically looters wouldn't have treasure maps to good loot, so finding places becomes a matter of luck, especially for those who can't read, and then of course hoping a securitron isn't inside waiting to turn intruders to goo.

<sub>hmmm...
does make me wonder though..

SHould some pre-war weapons misfire?

Should there be a certain percentage of a chance if you find a weapon at a random place in the wastes, that it will be blocked with a wasp nest or something of that sort, causeing it to backfire?</sub>

Actually...no.

The Fallout Universe is based on 1950's America. In 1950's America every household had a gun, most had multiple guns. The prewar population was much higher than it is in the Fallout games, so it only makes sense that there is an ample supply of firepower to go around.

As for the condition of the weapons, especially if they were oiled for storage, they'd likely last. They weren't being used or abused, so there is very little to do them damage until they're found. What causes guns to go bad is rust, and what causes rust is moisture--typically climatic moisture like water vapor. Since the war, it appears that there has been very little rainfall (which admittedly doesn't make much sense) so the air is likely very dry. If the air is dry, then there is no water vapor. If there is no water vapor, there is no oxidation of the metals and thus the guns don't deteriorate. Sure, they'll collect dust, but that doesn't really do any damage. In climates like the Mojave, this explanation makes a lot of sense. In DC, I just don't buy into the whole no rain thing. It's not scientifically sound.

All that is needed to protect guns from moisture is a light coating of oil. Most gun owners store their guns that way. With nothing to disturb the weapons, it makes sense they could survive.

As for energy weapons...I can't really say. I wouldn't think those would survive the time since the war. It would require very specific small parts to keep them operational. Unlike a traditional gun, which will still work with some imperfections, I don't see how an energy weapon would. I would think the only ones in circulation have been repaired and maintained since being found.

Some weapons should be rare yes, whether there pre-war of not. And weapons that are post-war shouldn't magically appear in places that haven't ever been in opened since the collapse.

yes much more rare

Logically yes.

Don't forget The Pitt manufactures ammunition as well, so that wouldn't be so scarce. Where else would the guns have gone though? Not to mention building new guns will probably just mean building new version of old guns, they won't have any new schematics for new guns, take the Gun Runners as example, they build new condition, pre-war guns. They're about right on weapons I think.

I agree they should be rarer and I would like more crafted weapons

I agree, but I still say that they should be rarer... It's been centuries since the war, and anything not bolted down should be long gone from any obvious habitation or facility ~unless they could not survive the endeavor.

IMO there should be a sharp difference in price for any functional tech ~especially weaponry. The average populace should [IMO] be getting by on pipe rifles and 10MM handguns and a few custom jobs like the .233 (still very rare though). Energy weapons should be wasteful, extravagant, and not as convenient to use & maintain; and priced out of this world, and not all of them should have guaranteed replenish-able ammo.

I think the only people with energy weapons should be the Brotherhood of Steel and the EXTRAVAGANTLY rich. If we look at the older games, a plasma (caster) rifle was literally the best of the best (save for Big Guns). As for other guns, I can understand people owning them.