Ive been playing Fallout since the very beginning wayyyy back in the day. Fallout 3 is a great game even when compared to its predicesors. But the VATS system in my opinion needs a little work, especially if what i hear about melee becoming more of a focus in NEW VEGAS. First i want to say IM NOT bashing the existing VATS system, so dont flame me. It was a great way to bring some of the old feeling back from the previous fallout games. The following is my ideas on how it could be improved apon.

1: the camera should become "unlockable" when the game is paused in VATS mode. Meaning it should be able to brought into third person mode and be able to free roam. This would allow the player to get a better sense of the battlefield and whats going around both him and his target. for example using grenades, nukes and such would be less risking know exactly where everything is in relation to him and any companions. Unlocked camera would also be needed for the following ideas i have about vats.

2: Movement inside the vats system. Enemies can run while vats is engaged and so should the player. Imagine be able to choose to run to cover, or fire and take cover while in the vats system. the potential for great slow-mo events would greatly expanded. With the camera unlocked from above the player would be able to choose to use AP points to move anywhere he had the range to do so. An auto DODGE skill would be great to add here too. It would come into play automatically whenever VATS movement was engaged. Movement withing VATS would also be a great way to close range on a gun toting enemy to get into hand to hand range. This would help overcome a glowing weakness in fallout 3 melee wpns. You get creamed attempting to close on the enemy.

3: VATS commands for companions. Ever have your companions get there butts killed when they are way way way out of position? Well if VATS mode allowed you to give them commands you could order them to get the hell out of the way, or retreat if they were wounded before they get whacked. Of course vats movement would have to be in effect like i discusses above as well as unlocked camera so you could pick a location for them to scamper off to. It would at the least mean you coudl finally overcome the sometimes spotting companion AI get them to some kind of cover before they start blazing away with their guns.

4: Order of attack in VATS. All these changes in VATS should now require a better working of how and when someone gets to perform an operation in VATS. IF companions are included in VATS then it would have to be made clear who got to do what first. This would also have to be extended out to the enemies. They shouldnt be so entirely hamstrung in VATS like they are at present. They should be allowed to attack back while in the player is in VATS and make it HURT!!! As a side note, the programmers should allow the game to reevaluate the AI's attack while the game is paused. Its seems to me this would make the game more balanced and harder. By having enemies specifically able to react to what your doing in VATS they should be able to perform better and more realistically. This i think would help balance the benefits the player gets inside VATS.

Obviously this would significantly change how the game would be played. i thought about how some people suggested that VATS should be able to continous, as in "turns". But in the end i dont think that would be a good idea. I think the game would be more fun keeping the real time combat in it. I dont think these changes would really effect the people the never use VATS but would definitely make the game more robust for those that do. So let the discussion begin and i hope the people working on future fallout games read this.

Great Ideas but what I really want is the ability to choose cars or exploding objects in the world while in VATS and blow them up while in VATS

Interesting ideas, but give meh an option to turn off the annoying slo-mo effects. The novelty in its entirety wears off quickly.

So implement sequence, movement, and add in companions.

That's turnbased.
What place does that have in a Fallout game?

Seriously, having to stand stationary in VATS and watch the redundant slomo effects ad nauseum is what the people want.

to OP: i wish.

to second poster: huh?

Turn based combat is what Fallout is all about. I'd favor a system that brought in full turn based play.

In reply to it being turn based on how i would like to see the changes to VATS, no its only "part time" turn based. Your AP would still run out and you would have to be in real time while it refilled. Of course i know people now that dont use VATS at all. These changes would just give people a much better choice on how you want to play the game. And isnt playing the game the way YOU want to the whole point of fallout?

and as far as the slo-mo goes... yes i agree 100%. It needs to be toned down as well. Keep the slo-mo for really awesome effects, or at least make the slo-mo speed scaleable.

Turn based combat is nice and neat but really doesn't fit in 3D games. Keep it like it was in Fallout 3, or don't include at all.

Fortunally this is not going to happen. If vats is present it will be the same as FO3. Only the content will change the engine will be same.

VATS is bullet time. There's nothing turn-based about VATS in Fallout 3.

Personally, I think trying to change VATS into something it isn't, wouldn't turn out so well. Why not just ask for what you really want? Which is another turn-based Fallout game? (And sign me up while you're at it...)

???

I don't follow... I've been playing turn-based games in 3D since the mid-80's. It's called tabletop gaming. I mean, look at X-Com - How would that game not be significantly improved by an update to a 3D engine?

I think they should reduce it to a "no frills" targeting system, no slo-mo, no AP, no invincibility when in use, just a good old fashion pause so that the character can aim using his skill, that way it's not bullet time and allows for the players who can't aim to target as much as they want while still allowing the player to quickly kill rats that do no damage and don't give any XP like they couldn't do with turn based combat

VATS is not a bad idea, but it wasn't implemented properly, take out the gimmicky frills and I think it will work great.

My understanding is that they playtested VATS quite a bit while they were working on the game. And that originally how you described it is actually kind of how it originally worked. But players were apparently finding it frustrating to get killed while in VATS playback, so they diminished the amount of damage you take while VATS is running. You actually do still take damage while VATS is running, it's just a lot less than what you normally would.

Combat in general seems to be something they had a lot of trouble balancing, apparently. Not only with VATS, but as to how much of an impact your skill had on bullet deviation as well. (Originally it was a lot more distinct, but again players were having a hard time understanding why they couldn't hit enemies that they were targetting.)

I think they could spoof up V.A.T.S more by allowing you to change the camera around to see all around you. It would make it easier to choose whether or not to throw a grenade if Dogmeat or another companion is running towards the enemy.

This honestly happened to me, I switched to V.A.T.S while fighting a Super Mutant, and didn't realize where Dogmeat was, as dumb as the dog is, this was the dumbest. He attacked just as I threw the grenade, causing both him and the Super Mutant to go flying into the Patomic. If I could have moved the camera just a bit, I wouldn't have thrown the grenade. Lucky for me, I had a earlier save that was close to where I was.

Return of nut shots....

But seriously, they need to change the amount of damage you take. (more correctly, how much you don't take)