ok here is a theory the vats in fallout 3 and 4 is a chem injector built into the pip boy 3000 and its models.

why I think this is simple when used it sharpens the mind allowing for quick reaction and slows down time (know of any chems in game that do similar things...)

so here is the concept..

The Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System or vats is a speciallized chemical injector built into combat and vault versions of the pip boy 3000 and its proto types, this V.A.T.S utilizes chemicals in the air to pump in a quick enviromental based chemical coctail into the user, causing them to experiance increased muscle reaction time and a precived stop or slowdown in time.

Along with this the V.A.T.S system also scans targets allowing users to quickly assess the danager and target the locations they want do to the chems and this the system greatly improves combat function.

adiction if vats was a chem it is likely people would become addicted to using it which is a double edged sword these people would be great in combat picking off targets quickly but would likely tired extremely fast when not using vats they may become over reliant on the system to the point where they can't hit a glass of nuka cola from 10 feet with a minigun or mininuke. Though this is rarely a problem as VATS addicts can just pop fixer and be done with it, but what happens when the user doesn't know it is adictive?

yeah just a fan concept for how a game mechanic works. basic concept is this vats is a drug that uses AIR based chemicals to enhance the users for a short time, this combined with a scanner on the pipboy means a trained combat user can easily pick off targets with it.

With this comes the theory that not all pipboys have V.A.T.S systems as it my be a optional addon for the pipboy 3000 and might not have been equiped to all of them (hence why no NPC uses it against you).

No clue where I was going with this theory but hey posting it anyway, cause it is cool for thought. as for why it is in fallout 4 area cause it is fallout 4's vats show off that sparked this idea.

No, that's too complicated and unrealistic.

VATS is your little Pip-Boy slowing down the universe.

Vats works like this: the computer in your PipBoy can process info a million times faster than human brain. Thats why time seems to stop or slow down. Then the PipBoy takes control of our muscles via electrical impulses directed at the muscles needed to contract and basically fires the gun for us.
Think of the Jackie Chan movie The Tuxedo because its basically the same thing.

Yeah. I was kidding.

That's not really too implausible... And there are many examples of that very idea in Sci-fi.

Rifts RPG http://www.ambient.ca/cpunk/juicer.html come first to mind, though I do recall seeing a tv show where a character acquires a cuff weapon, that installs nerve and vein probes into his arm when worn.

**But I doubt VATS has any work done on an official explanation at all.

Considering in Fallout 4 that Sole Survivor just slaps that svcker on, I don't think it can be something that injects into veins or nerves. Intramuscular maybe, but I highly doubt it considering the location the injection would take place and how quickly the reaction occurs.

I think they just tossed it in without explanation or thoughts on ever explaining it. It just happens because Bethesda

Of course they did.

eh, explanation form bethesda or not, still fun to speculate on how it works. it could also have quick inject needles hidden in the device when used they simply jab the arm injecting the chem.

The issue is, if it's intravenous or nerve injection then it would need to be custom fit for each and every person. If it's intramuscular, then the results would never be as quick as VATs, nor would the location of the device make sense. Then of course there is the infinite number of injections, reliance on AP, etc.

I'm thinking it was just a mechanic and never meant to be anything more or less. Of course I have no issue with speculation though.

Yeah, that's how it's always been for me.... it's a game mechanic meant to hearken back to the targeting/combat system in FO1 & 2.

And nowhere in the Fallout series ~prior to FO3, did aiming constitute freezing or slowing time; it's a non-diegetic interface that lets the player decide what they want the PC to do. It's not something perceived by the participants in the event.

that swift shutdown doe

No, VATS is explained pretty well in the "Prepare for the Future" commercial that Bethesda did to launch FO3. It has advanced tactical imaging that works so quickly that the results seem to slow/stop time, but that's all, really.

I've always treated VATs as something that we the player are aware of, yet our character isn't. It just represents our character taking the time to aim at something other than just shooting. I don't believe VATs is ever referenced outside of the perks.

It just gives you a means to introduce aimed shots, and RNG rolls into FPS combat.

I always imagined it as the pipboy computer taping into your brain for a short limited period of time to affect your reflexes and perception. the same with how we can perceive enemies in the near vicinity as red dots on the compass.

Gameplay/story segregation my friends.

SCIENCE!!!

Official explanation: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r3LSQwnKcGI

yes but taht official explenation is half assed at best.

That ain't an explanation, that's just showing it's there. There is no explanation behind how it works or how you "pause for a moment".

The official explainable doesn't explain anything; and conceptually, it wouldn't be useful ~unless, it was a targeting system that assumes control over a power suit, and auto aims based on sensor information.

**If... it were a partly drug based solution, it could at least seem plausible that it affects reaction time, but if they ever agreed to that, it would be retroactively banned (again) in Australia.

That's what it is in the rest of the series; who knows what it is in FO3. (FO3 suffers the rule of cool; and as result, so do we.)

just another thing to get replaced by mods. in this case bullet time is 100x more fun to use for me.

by the looks of things vats is just aim then bullet time in fallout 4 so half way there.

By using real-time tactical imagery, VATS scans the threat. Which means that there is computing done by your pip-boy. From these calculations, it pinpoints vulnerable areas of the enemy and calculates success potential, then show you the information on your screen.

With all of that, you get an increased strategic advantage, which is expressed by a ''pause'' in the game (a slow-down in F4). This is the game's way to give you this strategic dominance with all the informations you have on hand from the VATS calculations.

That explanation is good enough for me really

By the way, I hope bethesda will make those kind of promo videos again for F4, with the '50's feeling. Those, while being really good and original publicity, would really add to the fun while we are waiting for the game !

But the human wearer hasn't the time to look at any of it, much less read any of it. What aspect of realtime tactical imagery would allow them to leisurely inspect the targeting suggestions?

Point: VATS is a bad/loose nod to the simple act of conventional aiming In Fallout, and in Fallout 2. There was never any super-future/alien time altering technology implied in the Pipboy... It's just a PDA in the most typical ~ordinary sense.

**And it does not teleport the wearer.