I'd like to know if the companion app connects to the main game via internet (worst case), local wireless or bluetooth. maybe by connecting our phone via usb?

the main reason im asking is because i am afraid it'll connect via internet, much like asscreed unity's app, which is the absolute worst way to handle it. not only do you need a permanent, stable internet connection on your phone and your pc, you also have to deal with an extremely slow and sluggish app. basically, it makes such an app useless, because it'll be much faster to just use the pipboy ingame. it also seems ludicrous to upload data, send it halfway around the globe and then back to your living room literally a meter away from your pc.

LAN would be fine i guess, but i dont see that working very well. at the very least you'd need some kind of ingame menu to select the correct LAN adress. i'd prefer either bluetooth or good old usb. do we know anything about the app in this regard?

I'm going with WiFi.
Most phones have wifi capability, both consoles do, and many (most?) people have wireless routers for their PCs.

WiFi is just a distinction to cable, not a medium. WiFi could mean local (area) network or WAN, aka the interwebs.

most phones also have bt and usb...

edit: and like i said, local network could present a problem. there is no synch server in between the devices, meaning they have to find each other in LAN. without user input, this could present a challenge, especially in this day and age where things are just supposed to work :>

Obviously since I mentioned Wifi routers and consoles having Wifi, I mean local

You have to setup pylons with generators connected to terminals

I'm guessing the phone will connect to a server which will link it to your Sony/Microsoft/Steam account which then links to your game. Much like GTA V's phone app connects to the Rockstar server which is linked to your game account.

yeah, thats what im afraid of. the gta app is even more useless compared to ac:u, as will the pipboy app be. nobody is going to use it if it takes 30 seconds to open the damn map, only to have it updating in 60 second intervals.

its such a waste of great potential.

I think the time interval to simply open your map in game won't really be much different than the time it would take to look down at your phone. The app was more of a way to make the collectors edition pip boy seem cooler. Without it, it wouldn't have any function other than being a piece of plastic. .

Why would it need to go to a server?
This makes absolutely no sense, whats more Bethesda would have to spend money setting up servers, since I doubt they want to handle that traffic on the ones they use for ESO.

Edit:
That GTA app has online content, like minigames that are only offered through the app, and not part of the base game- that's why you need to go to a server, I imagine. My guess is that this app will likely work with the GTA online game that Rockstar is rolling out.

The pip boy app works as your pip boy, in your local game.
Until/unless we hear anything about online only content for F4, I can't fathom why they would want or need it to go through a server.

Because it makes perfect sense. The App is not going to be able to connect to the game directly. That would mean connecting your smart phone directly to the PC, Playstation or Xbox. And given all the different manufactures of smart phones that can lead to a lot of complications. (one company makes iphones a few hundred companies make Android). Even if you could you'd have to connect to the phone to your game every time you sat down to play. It wouldn't connect automatically like a wireless controller.

So how will the app connect to your local game? The simplest method with the fewest complications is to link it to your sony/xbox/steam account respectively because your game is already linked to that account. I mention a third party server because it might be necessary to bridge that gap.

And most importantly, neither Sony nor Microsoft is likely to permit a third party piece of hardware to connect to your games without going through them first.

Most of the minigames and stuff on the GTA map... relate to single player not multiplayer.

Ill also toss my hat into the 100% sure its Wifi. I have my own entertainment PC set up to play movies/tv shows and such to my tv. I use my phone as a remote via wifi. Its very responsive. Ill explain why.

Why you're thinking wifi is bad is you think the signal is going from your phone->your router->the interwebs->your router->your PC/Console. (This is not the case)

When it comes to Apps like this its essentially a LAN wifi connection so its only going from your phone->your router->your PC/console which acts independently from your connection speed.

So even if you have really slow internetz like me, it will still be responsive I promise you. [disclaimer: sorry this is a really simplistic/dumbed down explanation but it works]

Lots of products use this type of a connection such as the Nvidia Sheild or even Steam machine to use your PC's processing power and broadcasts the footage to a screen or your tv. So you can enjoy playing Games using your expensive PC using your expensive TV upstairs lol There is lag but its a very small fraction of a second. I hope this puts the hoopalah for the pip boy app to rest.

[edit: let me make this clear, while playing the game there will be no connection to a server, unless you consider your own pc a server itself. The only reason for any connection to a server would be "offline" gameplay, as in you aren't playing the game. but you want to see or show off your items and such using the app, and that's still a big IF as it would be very easy for the game to save your inventory and stats and such as you're playing the game on the app.]

Wrong

LOLZ

True

OK. Example time. I use my phone to synch with my gopro as a view finder and controller, through Wifi. Directly, via a gopro app, with no internet, or router for that matter, required. I don't see how this has to be any different. All of the hardware is already present to transmit and receive data in virtually everyone's gaming setup, whether it be PC or console. Software would be the only hindrance, and since Bethesda is coding the game and the app, it's within their power. Even if it can't access the console or PC wireless adapters directly, if you're using them at all, it's because you have a WiFi router.

Now. Some people won't have Wifi routers or (maybe?) phones. But it's moot. I don't see spending possibly hours at a time sending and recieving data (and RX/TX will happen, whether in use or not, so long as it's synched) on your carriers 3 or 4G wireless network as working out well in regards to latency, connectivity or cost. I am guessing there is a USB option for those people.


The GTA app has exclusive content, which is not part of the base game, but is accessed on a server. That's the difference I am pointing out. The content we are getting in the pip boy app is (as far as anyone is aware) is the same and works directly with local base game content.

I mentioned the upcoming multiplayer, not because the app has anything to do with it now, but to illustrate that Rockstar is going the route of online content- That server considerations have been made. Even then, look at the complaints above about how impractical it is. Going through the internet is a poor idea, for something that is this simple.

There is also the fact that it has been stated that you do not need to be online to play the game.
I suppose that could be shady wording that would need an asterisk in print saying "except for pip boy app use"
But, generally if you're advertising that you don't need online connectivity during play, all features should be included.

Because the app has to be capable connect to the ps4/Xbox and PC and accessing the content of one specific game. The Xbox and Ps4 aren't set up to do that. Even if it were it'd require an instruction manual to guide people through the process (with one set of instructions to each system.) The simplest way to accomplish that goal is to connect through the sony/xbox live/steam account respectively. The players already have those accounts, and the games are already configured to upload information to those accounts. It might not be faster but its simpler to set up and use. Your gopro camera was likely designed to connect directly to computers and a smartphone is basically a computer so your example is kinda meaningless

Also the pipboy is supposed to have minigames too, even in-game.

One thing we're assuming... that that the two are even linked. The phone version might contain the same mini-games you can find "in-game" while say the map feature instead displays google maps in the pipboy format. If that is true then the two are only related not connected at all.

Prove it, give an example of a console video game with a companion smart phone phone app that didn't connect through xbox live or the sony network account. It might work for PC but it won't work for the Xbox or Playstation.

Do i look like your personal google researcher? No. The answers no.

Look it up there's literally HUNDREDS of videos on youtube and websites telling you how to connect your phone to your console wirelessly. And those are examples of half a$$ apps.

I'm not going to try and sit here and explain to you exactly how it all works step by step. I'm not tech support. I'm simply telling you MY truth. If you want to complain and agonize how terrible the pip boy app will be, please do so to yourself only. Do not spread ignorance to others on the forums.

Just do SOME amount of research of your own at least. please. Lets even entertain the notion i'm wayy off and the app will have to go through xbox and PS servers for some unbeknownst reason. Oh no, it will be a slightly larger fraction of a second to 2 seconds instead of a small fraction of a second lag. What has the world come to TWO WHOLE SECONDS?! <-Sarcasm

I don't want to argue to try to convince you 1) because you will never look at it from a perspective besides your own. and 2) you don't know me and will never believe anything I say unless you look it up for yourself. That's just human behaviorism by no fault of your own. So i'm not really mad at you.

Did I ever say it be horrible or complain about lag or even mention it'd be an issue NO. I don't see the lag as any issue. When I still bothered to use the gta companion app it updated instantly.

I simply stated the most logical and simplest method to connect for users is via the playstation network/xbox live and steam respectively. The fact you can't easily give an explanation of how to connect your smartphone to your console with ease just proves my point. (and there is also a difference between connecting to the console and the game playing on the console) You have the iphone, you have the google phone, hundreds of different android phones. (and that's ignoring tablets) Then you have THREE gaming platforms and various regions. See the topic http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1540600-all-27-versions/ That's A LOT of complications when it comes to connecting your phone to the console just for an app that duplicates your in-game menu. And as I said before the phone wouldn't connect to your console automatically like a wireless controller does when you turn it on.

The simplest method for the user to set up is through the respective gaming accounts. I do see it from your perspective and your way is would be a hell of a lot more complicated for most users. My method doesn't require complicated instructions that may vary based on your devices and you can access the app even if your machine is turned off or miles away.

Ask yourself this question... which method is the easiest for idiots to set-up?

Okay i see where you're getting this now. You're over complicating things.

Yes there's hundreds of smartphones. They all have Wifi, Bluetooth and data capabilities. (you have an input/output connection method!)

yes there's 27 "versions" of the game. That are all coded to be compatible with the app.

yes there's different consoles and pc's they all are able to connect to internet or wifi (you have another input/output connection method!)

you're basically saying that

step #1 download the app

step #2 sync your phone/tablet with the app to your PS4/XBOX

step #3 use the app!

Is too hard and complicated for people? O.o

I would question whether step 2 would be a user action. It should be reasonably simple in most cases to get the app to automatically find and connect to a PC/console running Fallout 4 on the local network, and then automatically connect to it if it a single instance is found.

Other than that I would agree that there is no need to connect through a server on the internet.