personally i'd love to see those:

- guns (combines small guns and big guns)
- explosives
- hand to hand (combines melee weapons and unarmed)
- energy weapons
- traps
- science (now only improves the effects of chems and allows you to create your own, like alchemy in TES: oblivion)
- security (combines lockpicking and the hacking aspect of science)
- medicine
- repair
- sneak
- speech
- barter
- leadership (a new skill that makes companions more powerfull, allows you to boss some characters into doing your bidding)
- survival
- driving (another new skill, this one improves your abillity to drive vehicles)

all skills should go up to 200 base value, and all the way up to 250 thank to equipment bonuses, the maximum base value of 200 is neccessary in order to prevent you from being able to max most (if not all) skills and the "limit breaking" equipment bonuses (in combination with other bonuses, like carry weight, AP, CH chance, etc...) are vital to encourage the use of regular clothing and light armor amongst "non-sneak" characters.

also, it would be nice to see weapons who depend on two or more skills to be effective, such as rocket launchers (guns and explosives), mines (traps and explosives), stun batons (hand to hand + energy weapons), etc...

vehicles would be a great addition to the fallout series, the system does not neccesarily need to be complex, only 5 vehicle categories would be sufficient (motorbike, buggy, car, truck, apc), the player could "save" his vehicle onto the pip boy, allowing you to see it's position on the map.
also with NPCs using vehicles the game experience would be highly enriched (think being chased down by raiders in armored buggies as you desperately try to take out their wheels, engine or driver to slow them down).

like in NV, perks should only be gained once every 2 levels.
the perks should not only be more diverse but also more usefull in general (perks like cannibal and lead belly are not as usefull as they could be).
also, more level two, four and six perks, in order to make a truely customised character from the start, some examples:

- intense training (level 2). 4 ranks.

- talented (level 2): increases the maximum value of one of your tagged skills by 10 (210/ 260), 1 rank.

- survivor (level 2): increases resistance to poison and radiation by 15%, 1 rank. requires 6 endurance and 30 survival.

- bone crusher (level 2): increases limb damage done by your hand to hand attacks by 20%. 1 rank. requires 6 strength.

- eloquent (level 2): increases the effectiveness of charisma by 5%. 1 rank. requires 6 charisma.

- chem dealer (level 2): increases the price of all chems you sell by 10%. 1 rank. requires 4 intelligence.

- alchohol fueled (level 2): whenever you drink any kind of alchohol, you do 10% more damage for the whole duration of it's effects. 1 rank.

- run! (level 2): allows you to sprint 10% longer. 1 rank. requires 4 endurance and 4 agility.

- resourcefull repairs (level 2): allows you to restore a small ammount of condition (+-2 %) to any piece of equipment with duct tape or scrap metal. 1 rank, requires 6 intelligence and 30 repair.

- sneaky bam (level 2): increases stealth by 8 when sneaking. 1 rank. requires 6 agility and 30 sneak.

- perforation (level 4): whenever you are equipped with any kind of knife you ignore 8 points of the target's DT. 1 rank. requires 6 strength and 45 hand to hand.

- center mass (level 4): increases damage and fatigue damage by 20% when shooting an enemy in the torso with all guns. 1 rank, requires 4 perception and 20 guns.

- chemistry (level 4): increases the effectiveness of all chems you create by 10%. 3 ranks. requires 6 intelligence and 40 science.

- safety in numbers (level 4): increases your DR by 4 for every follower you have. 1 rank. requires 30 leadership.

- tactical explosive (level 4): increases the radius of your explosions by 20%. 1 rank. requires 45 explosives.

- good ol' violence (level 4): increases all damage you do by 5%. 2 ranks.

- well liked (level 4): if your reputation with a faction is good, you will get a 15 point bonus to your speech when talking to one of it's members. 1 rank. requires 6 charisma.

- duck and cover (level 6): when crouched you take 20% less damage from explosions. 1 rank. requires 4 intelligence.

that's all i have for now, more to come later. of course these are only basic conceps so some may be overpowered and others underpowered.

You should use this for suggestions for future fallout games http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1364939-fallout-4-speculation-suggestions-and-ideas-thread-59/
And welcome to the forums!

Why combine Melee and Unarmed? We already have too few skills as it is.

And why combine Lockpicking and Hacking?Hacking if anything should be removed from Science and put in it's own skill.

Leadership is already there, it's called Nerve and it's supported by Charisma, we don't need Charisma to be even more wortheless.

added body types and "special" changes. removed athletics.


skills:

- guns (combines small guns and big guns)
- explosives
- hand to hand (combines melee weapons and unarmed)
- energy weapons
- traps (affects how likely ennemies are to walk into your traps, higher levels "attract" ennemies to them)
- repair
- science (imporves the effects of any chems you use or create (chems would be created like potions in TES: oblivion))
- security (combines lockpicking and the hacking aspect of science)
- medicine
- sneak
- deception (a new skill that improves your ability to disguise yourself, lie and cheat)
- eloquence (combines speech and barter)
- leadership (a new skill that makes companions more powerfull, allows you to boss some characters into doing your bidding)
- survival
- driving (yet another new skill, this one improves your abillity to drive vehicles)


all skills should go up to 200 base value, and all the way up to 250 thank to equipment bonuses, the maximum base value of 200 is neccessary in order to prevent you from being able to max most (if not all) skills and the "limit breaking" equipment bonuses (in combination with other bonuses, like carry weight, AP, CH chance, etc...) are vital to encourage the use of regular clothing and light armor amongst "non-sneak" characters.



gameplay:

special changes: you start with 5 in every attribute and get only 3 points to spend, this will encourage the player to make sacrifices or look into traits and different body types.

different body types would make the game more interesting, for example:

- standard: average build and height, no bonuses or penalties.
- overweight: DT + 5, FDR + 20, weight + 50, MAX AGI - 4, sprint duration - 30%. character is fatter than normal.
- muscular: STR + 2, hand to hand damage + 15%, weight + 40, MAX AGI - 4, CH chance - 2. character looks more muscular.
- small: AGI + 2, noise made - 20%, chance to be hit - 6%, weight - 40, MAX STR - 4, MAX END - 4, limb health X 0.5. charcter is shorter than normal.

these effects also affect NPCs, so a muscular raider will hit you harder in Hand to hand combat, and an overweight bandit will take less damage and fatigue damage, ect...
ideally i would like to see the player recieve far less special points ( 5 in every attribute + 3 points to spend, this (together with an improvement of the bonuses provided by base stats) will encourage the creation of a balanced character, ranther than just min maxing.

it would be nice to see weapons who depend on two or more skills to be effective, such as rocket launchers (guns and explosives), stun batons (hand to hand + energy weapons), mines (traps + exlposives), etc...
some non weapons should also use the dual skills mechanism for example successfully lieing to somone requires both eloquence and deception.

vehicles would be a great addition to the fallout series, the system does not neccesarily need to be complex, only 5 vehicle categories would be sufficient (motorbike, buggy, car, truck, apc), the player could "save" his vehicle onto the pip boy, allowing you to see it's position on the map.
also with NPCs using vehicles the game experience would be highly enriched (think being chased down by raiders in armored buggies as you desperately try to take out their wheels, engine or driver to slow them down).


Perks:

like in NV, perks should only be gained once every 2 levels.
the perks should not only be more diverse but also more usefull in general (perks like cannibal and lead belly are not as usefull as they could be).
also, more level two, four and six perks, in order to make a truely customised character from the start, some examples:

- intense training (level 2). 4 ranks.

- talented (level 2): increases the maximum value of one of your tagged skills by 10 (210/ 260), 1 rank.

- survivor (level 2): increases resistance to poison, radiation, fire and cold by 15%, 1 rank. requires 5 endurance and 30 survival.

- limb cracker (level 2): increases limb damage done by your hand to hand attacks by 20%. 1 rank. requires 5 strength and 30 hand to hand.

- silver tongued (level 2): increases the effectiveness of charisma by 5%. 1 rank. requires 6 charisma.

- pugilist (level 2): increases the fatigue damage you do with your bare hands by 40%. 1 rank. requires 5 strength and 5 endurance.

- scavenger (level 2): increases the ammount of money and ammunition you find in containers by 40%. 1 rank. requires 5 luck and 5 perception.

- chem dealer (level 2): increases the price of all chems you sell by 10%. 1 rank. requires 4 intelligence.

- alchohol fueled (level 2): whenever you drink any kind of alchohol, you do 10% more damage for the whole duration of it's effects. 1 rank.

- run! (level 2): allows you to sprint 10% longer. 1 rank. requires 5 agilitiy and 5 endurance.

- resourcefull repairs (level 2): allows you to restore a small ammount of condition (+-2 %) to any piece of equipment with duct tape, wonder glue or scrap metal. 1 rank, requires 6 intelligence and 30 repair.

- sneaky (level 2): increases stealth by 8 when sneaking. 1 rank. requires 6 agility and 30 sneak.

- cannibal (level 2): allows you to obtain "human flesh" from human corpses. 1 rank.

- effective cover (level 4): you and your companions take 10% less damage when behind cover. 1 rank. requires 4 intelligence.

- perforation (level 4): whenever you are equipped with any kind of knife you ignore 8 points of the target's DT. 1 rank. requires 5 strength and 45 hand to hand.

- center mass (level 4): increases damage and fatigue damage by 20% when shooting an enemy in the torso with all guns. 1 rank, requires 4 perception and 20 guns.

- pocket robber (level 4): increases your chance to sucessfully pickpocket somone by 5%. requires 5 perception and 30 sneak.

- chemistry (level 4): increases the effectiveness of all chems you create by 10%. 3 ranks. requires 6 intelligence and 40 science.

- firearm knowledge (level 4): you reload and un-jam all guns and energy weapons 15% faster. 1 rank. requires 4 intelligence and 45 guns.

- tactical explosive (level 4): increases the radius of your explosions by 20%. 1 rank. requires 45 explosives.

- good ol' violence (level 4): increases all damage you do by 5%. 2 ranks.

- well liked (level 4): if your reputation with a faction is good, you will get a 15 point bonus to your speech when talking to one of it's members. 1 rank. requires 6 charisma.

- vehicle handler (level 4): decreases the penalties recieved when your vehicles wheels are crippled by 35%. 1 rank. requires 45 driving.

- demolition boy/ demolition girl (level 4): increases damage done to destructible scenery by 40%. 1 rank. requires 20 explosives.

- dodge! (level 6): gives you a 15% chance to automatically dodge hand to hand attacks (triggering a "killcam" effect centered on you dodging the attack), and a 60% chance to dodge them in V.A.T.S (causing you to take no damage), does not work when wearing heavy or very heavy armor. 1 rank. requires 6 agility, 5 perception and 45 hand to hand.

- toughness (level 6): increases DT by 3 and DR by 5. 1 rank. requires 6 endurance.

- posology (level 6): increases the effectiveness of chems, medicine and poison used on others by 20%. 1 rank. requires 6 intelligence and 45 medicine.

- precise shot (level 6): increases your critical hit chance by 2%. 3 ranks. requires 5 perception, 5 luck and 45 guns OR 45 energy weapons.

- computer whiz (level 6): hacking a terminal is now 20% easier (the potential passwords from which you must choose one have 20% less differences), also reduces the science skill requirements for interactions with computers and robots by 20%. 1 rank, requires 6 intelligence and 40 security.

- adrenaline rush (level 6): increases your AP by 15 and your damage by 10% when you HP falls below 20%. 1 rank.

- brute force (level 6): whenever you stun an ennemy with a hand to hand attack it has a 60% greater chance to be knocked down. 1 rank. requires 6 strength.

- shadow blend (level 6): light no longer has any effect on your stealth. 1 rank. requires 6 agility and 40 sneak.






that's all i have for now, more to come later. of course these are only basic concepts so some may be overpowered and others underpowered.



formulas:

- less HP and no HP bonus when leveling up, only endurance and perks should affect your HP. ( new formula: HP = END X 20 then + 40)

- more realistic gun damage, preferably damage based on calibre, velocity and barrel length. all guns should have a chance to inflict fatigue damage based on their calibre and ammuntition type (hollow points always cause some fatigue damage with a chance to cause more while AP bullets don't do any fatigue damage, ever.).

- headshots (and other "weak zone" shots) should be always be critical hits, scoring a random critical hit to the head would cause a "super critical"

- improve hand to hand combat slightly by allowing your bear hands and blunt weapons a chance to do fatigue damage (K.O) based on their weight and design (+- 68% for a police baton, for example), and giving all sharp weapons a chance (+- 10% for a knife) to ignore some of the target's DR (but not DT).

- remove the jump key and allow the player to use the action key to climb over small obstacles (based on AGI), turn the RB (Xbox 360) or R1 (PS3) (while "change view" is changed to the "Y" or "triangle" key) into a secondary attack (stab with knives, pistol whip with handguns, stock blow with rifles and shotguns, push with bare hands, etc...), the ability to use guns as melee weapons is vital and long overdue.

- reduce carry weight ENORMOUSLY, carry weight should be minimal, to force people to carry only the items they need. ( new formula: carry weight in lbs = str X 4 then + 5), some equipment can increase carry weight, at the cost of DT and DR.

companions:

i like how companions had a richer backstory in FNV, but i don't like they way all of the human ones forced you to have good or very good karma. ideally i would like to see 12 or more companions, each one having traits that determines thier personality.

an example:

- nick "Razor" hunterson, outlaw.
HUMAN
class: outlaw (tagged => guns, hand to hand, survival)
traits: evil, rifleman, quiet, violent, hates regulators.
perks: firearm knowledge, toughness.
companion perk: dreaded killer: frightens ennemies, causing them to be less effective in combat and more likely to flee.
equipment: mercenary grunt outfit, .243 battle rifle (looks exactly like the battle rifle in FNV), .45 automatic pistol (based on the 1911 pistol), combat knife,
two bottles of pure water. he has infinite .243 and .45 rounds in his personal inventory.

he has sworn to destroy all forces of "good" after his brother was killed by regulators because he refused to let them enter his home while they
were pursuing an outlaw. the player will encounter him in a town, he will ask the player if he has had any problems with the "regulator wearing sunglasses and a false smile", if the player asks him why that would be, or says that he hates regulators he will tell you about his revenge, then, if the player offers to help him, he will pursue the target of his revenge to a nearby town, once at the town the regulator chief will talk to razor (saying that he made a big mistake by coming to this town), sevral regulators will then come out from hiding and immediately open fire. once all the regulators are dead he will open dialogue with the players and say he is endebted to you, you can then ask him to either pay you in caps or join you on your travels, if you choose the latter option he will become a follower.

(the story is subject to future changes)

We badly need more skills for the next fallout game, 13 is way too few. We need the number to be closer to 16-18.

my version includes 16 skills

Athleticism - Agility and Endurance should cover this, not a skill.

Leadership - Charisma already covers this with Nerve.

And it's a bad choice to merge Barter and Speech, as they're both powerful enough as it is, merging them makes it a super skill. Same with Security.

i already removed athleticism as it was a bad idea and leadership is different to nerve, leadership affects companion accuraccy, courage (ability to resist loss of combat effectiveness due to fear) and the kind of orders you can give them.

i agree that security could become too powerfull, but good game design would prevent this.


barter and speech need to be combined, separating them makes no logical sense. however, an "economics" skill could be added, which would allow the player to use currency more effectively by increasing it's value while barter could be nerfed by reducing the ammount of caps merchants have to offer in the first place.

1. ....Then include those new things to Nerve, not Leadership as Nerve is already there.

2. No, they don't. I consider myself to be a person who can use logic and reason to talk with people, so I might have a good Speech skill IRL, but haggling? Economics? Trading stuff? I can't do that for [censored], so how logical would it be for me to be a master tradesman just cause I have a sharp tounge when talking to people about resolving issues with logic, practical applications and reasoning? And Economics sound like a really terrible skill, caps are caps, it's value can't be decreased or increased, the goods on the other hand, those values can be decreased and increased, through haggling, with Barter.

We need more dialogue skills, not less.
Why does combat get so many skills and dialogue gets bugger all?
And you want to merge the only two dialogue skills we have?

It makes no sense to me.
Dialogue should be just as important as the combat, and the combat get Guns, Energy Weapons, Melee, Unarmed, Explosives, Sneak, Repair, Medicine and to a lesser extent, Survival.

If anything the dialogue skills should be split up even more.

Persuasion - What speech is now.
Deception - Lying when confronted, smuggling, disguising one self.
Intimidation - Makes lesser enemies run away in fear, can be used in dialogue to force people to do as you will.
Barter - n/a
Politics - For talking on an equal level to leaders and high ranked NPC's in factions.

All of them work differently and can help define a role we've set out to portray.



[edit]


And why hasn't this thread been closed yet?
We already have a suggestion thread for Fallout 4: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1364939-fallout-4-speculation-suggestions-and-ideas-thread-59/

i know, economics is a bad idea as it only affects currency (however it does not only affect caps, infact my "economics" skill was meant to affect the exchange rates of different currencies (NCR dollars to caps, for example).

i don't know if you noticed, but i divided speech into two seperate skills, eloquence and deception.

eloquence is about how well you make your point, how convincing you are, so it's only natural it affects your bartering skill, while deception is about how well you lie, how well you pass yourself off for something you're not.

I still don't like it. Just lke I absolutely hate Science. I make a character who is a hacker, and now he is automatically a chemist too? And he knows how electronics work? And nuclear cores?

Eloquence is the same, although in a smaller scale, I make a character who is supposed to be great at trading and it automatically becomes great at persuading too. I make a character that is supposed to have a silver tounge but couldn't know how to haggle if his life depended on it then he is automatically great at bickering down prices.

We should keep both Speech (Tough I'd kill it and rename it's incarnation Persuasion instead) and Barter, only make Barter more useful, make it have more dialogue choices throughout the game.
But to say it needs to be merged, there is no reason to merge them, not in gameplay reasons, and most certainly not a realistic perspective.

Only reason for doing it, is streamlining, and it's not even good streamlining, it's streamlining for the sake of streamlining.