» Tue Dec 01, 2015 2:32 pm I know it's too late to come up with any suggestions, but since my Fallout 5 suggestions thread was closed, I'll post this in the Fallout 4 section.
Fallout is primarily a brand of potential. The backdrop of a 'World of Tomorrow' that got nuked to hell and gives birth to numerous new societies and ways of life is so damn good that it doesn't even need to resort to iconic elements to convey a meaningful experience.
Let's just say that everything I'll furthermore write here is based on the establishment of a pattern to observe the direct consequences of certain design philosophies - heavily intertwined with my personal opinion.
If you don't think that game mechanics (not just world/level and quest design) and narrative coexist (in a sort of a top-down-/bottom-up-design way), then you'll probably disagree.
Anyway, feel free to share your opinion, I'd love it.
THE SETTING IS THE NARRATIVE
Now what do I mean by that?
Narrative is everything that tells us something about the world, e.g. the setting itself has narrative value. The mainquest (aka the plot/story as part of the narrative) is part of the setting.
Fallout creates an environment where everything ties into one common Overarching Narrative Element (ONE). The ONE is not to be confused with the story. But that's what this thread is all about, so read further.
Setting as a whole is to be seen as an expression of the ONE, because everything within the setting is a derivative (direct or indirect) of the ONE. You can easily discern the ONE by affiliating every offshoot of the setting to a common denominator.
Please mind that I take all DLC out of the equation. They usually have their own setting and ONE.
We've seen this before in Fallout 3. Everything within the Capital Wasteland was to be seen in the light of that ONE. The ONE in Fallout 3 was the post-nuclear world of Fallout itself that inherits the ghosts of the old world.
All the locations and scenarios develop significance through the reflection of the ONE. Vault 112 played with the thought whether life in a virtual reality would be a preferable alternative compared to the ONE (and then destroyed that through a ghost of the old world). Oasis was the stark contrast to the ONE and thus got it's importance. Settlements like Tenpenny Tower (pre-war hotel), Megaton (scrap town) and Rivet City (repurposed aircraft carrier) are different conclusions to the settlement question within the ONE. The cannibals, the Republic of Dave, Little Lamplight (to name a few) have evolved due to the ONE and exemplify the direct possibilities of societal and cultural evolution through the ONE.
The entire main quest revolves around water purification (one of the most apparent features of the ONE is irradiated water) and fighting the ghosts of the old world.
Every little thing you could explore gained significance through the ONE. A [censored] Burned Book is already an example of the ONE.
The most glaring and obvious problem with a ONE that revolves around the past is that it doesn't revolve around the present. I already preceded my conclusion, but I'll further illustrate the point.
See, it's Overarching Narrative Element is why all of Fallout 3's narrative elements are so potent and resonate with some people so much, while other people are deterred by it's percieved internal inconsistencies and (mostly) meaningless interactivities. It's strong, because it has a strong ONE. It's weak, because it has the wrong ONE.
A ONE that is heavily defined by events that are already (mostly) gone and over will diversify the present (and thus the only time where the player can effectively interact with the world) in light of the past in order to achieve the ONE. The present degenerates into a stage for a past that affects every aspect of the current situation in order to showcase itself.
Now you may think of the present as the equation of past events anyway, like the future is just the consequence of present events, right? The problem with that is that it ignores how strong of a focus the ONE can set. Yes, a game-world needs history. And it needs future. But primarily, it needs present.
New Vegas relocates the ONE. The Great War is long gone (well, 4 years longer than in the times of Fallout 3) and hasn't affected the area as much. It is merely a backdrop from which a new ONE emerges. Now the ONE is to be found in the future.
The war of quasi-nations (and the mysterious Mr House) for a McGuffin on foreign grounds. Almost every storyline converges at the Second Battle of Hoover Dam or explores either it's participants or the general populace, who are (mostly indirectly) affected by the war. The final battle for Hoover Dam is already prophesied in Goodsprings and the Intro.
One of the problems I have with Vegas is that this focus on the future is bought with a stalemate situation at the beginning of the game all the way throughout the main storyline. The present is reduced to an anorganic quasi-'silence before the storm'-scenario and while it allows for change in the light of the ONE, it doesn't allow to change the future, because the future is the ONE and already precedes the present.
Vegas' ONE was much more of a shadow in the distance because it's further derived from the setting it contains. Although everything in the Mojave Desert is to be seen in light of SBHD or one of the participants, not everything is directly related to them.
The Mojave isn't allowed to change other than into specific forms that don't break the stalemate or change the fate of the ONE. This is a problem of the stalemate. It's a problem, because the ONE lies in the future. It's a problem, because the future is what everything must become already, because everything within the setting is a derivative of the ONE.
In addition, Vegas (like 3, but much more classical) largely follows the classic RPG model of quest and world design, which usually has some kind of a setting-exploration themed ONE programmed into it's structure. This design model should be exchanged for one that's focused on immediate present events (that aren't mere subsidiaries to past events, but that have importance without any kind of explanation, because the evolution is obvious) and banishes the lore into the background where it belongs.
Fallout 3 stars the world. Fallout: New Vegas stars the main quest's goal.
THE GAME IS INTERACTION
Past events have great narrative value. The future is the goal, the drive. Both do not prevent the present from happening or from being exciting. So what's my problem with a ONE that revolves around past or future events? Why would I prefer a ONE that focuses on the present, more precisely that is the present?
First something else: Bestseller books profit heavily from history (Dan Brown comes to mind) as well as motion pictures do (Indiana Jones comes to mind), but even these noninteractive pieces of media usually use the past as a mere hook to set the narrative in the present forth. The past becomes an overwhelming truth of surreal properties that needs to be overcome or understood. We oftentimes find personal fates and struggles to be the centerpiece of the character arc. This is largely inappropriate for Fallout, though there can be smart exceptions.
Although Fallout 3 at least took some advantage of the Lone Wanderer's Vault-history (either indirectly by presenting two Vaults on the path of the mainquest for example or directly with the James arc) Vegas did no such thing (except several reminders of the Courier having been shot and the entire first act of the game - the past was the cliffhanger in both games, the past was what you experienced in the game, nothing more) until the Lonesome Road debacle.
But both games offer a rather free role-playing experience anyway, as it should be in a Fallout game. I'm not opposed to personal quests, but a personal past (even the KoTOR-like one, much less a Torment one) is imo not suited for Fallout. I liked how the Chosen One represented (and mocked) his own tribal culture, but that's about the extent.
Still, what's my problem with a ONE that revolves around the past (or future), even a personal past now? Why is that a bad thing? Because the present is where the action is. The present is where interaction is. The present is the game.
It's that simple. Everything you can do, you can do now. Expositing lore should be a byproduct of the interactive process, not the other way around. Goals are necessary, but they have to be organic to allow for the game to take whatever course it will – goals are byproducts of the present, not the other way around.
If focus shifts away from the present, then the present and all interactive possibilities (which are present by nature) become the derivative of a ONE that is detached from gameplay by being detached from the present, either controlling it or making mere use of it, without honoring what it is by being it. That is the very nature of the ONE, it sets a focus, it guides a narrative experience.
Now to make the experience meaningful, you have to make the interaction meaningful. Allow for organic reactions and original action concepts. We need a strong ONE and we need it to be focused on present events with the past lying in the background and the future being a derivative of the present, not the present being a derivative of the future.
HOW TO UNIFY STORY AND SETTING IN AN OPEN-WORLD GAME
This is the most important thing in the universe and I'll update it later.
Here's the cornerstones:
The setting as a whole is an expression of the ONE.
The experience happens in the present, although the narrative focus might not.
The narrative focus outside the present will neglect interactivity at least partly.
The narrative focus is determined by the ONE.
