Let me explain the title: It is several years before the release of fo3 and YOU are the lead designer of whatever game. Zenimax has left you with as much money as you almost need and a note:

1. Make FO3 to your liking
2.
3. Profit

Oh, let me tell YOU what I would do! Since I'm in charge of anything I want, including writing, I would need only pay for another writer to assist me by pointing out flaws and plot holes in my story.



This implies that mankind is better adapted to reconvene their selfish savagery rather than wear the failed mask of civility. Don't try to convince others that you are noble when it is so clear to the senses that you are a selfish bigot with a sense of entitlement. There are no benevolent protectors or decent wastelanders. The theme is not survival, but selfishness. You are selfish. Your neighbors are out for themselves. Your pastor does not do his job because he wants to help others, but because it satisfies his need to feel powerful. A wasteland dog does not hunt molerats because it is hungry, but because it knows that it is making what's left of the world into a worse place. The children are future criminals, and there are no Agathas but only different extremes of Nathans.

In this post-apocalypse nothing is done without tribute to someone's ego. Merchants will not sell to someone unless they entertain them by groveling, kissing up, or tolerating verbal abuse. The pastor requires "donations" and praise for his interpretations and interpolations. The locals pay tribute to the mayor or elder by having their daughters kiss his feet, annoint them with their tears, and dry them with their hair, or some other symbolic act. The mayor or elder has jurisdiction over their domain, not because they are lawful like that sheriff in Megaton but because they have the support of manpower.

Every town / tribe lives by the rules of the leader, and in none of these places is the First Amendment acceptable because it inspires treason and heresy. The Equal Protection clause is unconstitutional. If you have a problem with a man you duel them, and if that man is the elder then you duel his champion. Otherwise, go somewhere else fast. A settler need only concern themself by meeting settlement's supply and by reporting lawbreakers and heretics. The merchants distribute food in return for competitive good word and protection from slavers, as well as report rumors to the mayor and pick his women for him. The mayor and his men protect the settlement and send men to the higher factions so that there are more unattached women. The pastors appeal to the mayor for his mercy or his judgement in a dispute.

And of course all tribes / settlements are in competition with each other for permission from a higher faction to expand their borders. So from the tribe leader down to the begging settler it is a showdown over whose town is the greatest, which one has the best rules to live by, which is the richest, which is the smartest, which has the least heathens, etc. The faction leaders don't care as long as they recieve bi-monthly tribute in caps and men to fuel the war with supermutants and other factions. I forgot to mention that the mayor's men usually have ghouls manning the jobs of executioner, interrogation, intimidation, etc.

tldr:
Well why did you read it, then?

So what would Fallout 3 have been if you were the lead designer?

Important Edit:
There is no cowboy music. Instead it is war drums.

I say I would have had more to date graphics and a larger map with more wasteland in between places. I also would have placees and events more explianed then they were in the game.

I can't think of much else.

I would revamp the main quest to make it at least somewhat better. An option to join the Enclave and an accompaning story-arc for them would be a start.

A better main quest without the 'waaaah I miss my daddy' part, and an option to join the Enclave.

It's true that the good karma dialogue shows that the player character wants to be closer to his father, but I don't remember and "I miss Daddy." It's more like "I will get my revenge for Daddy."

Finish Van Buren

Broken Steel fixed that.

I would have had far less handholding in the game.

In our country (Britain) the game is rated 18. That to me makes anyone who buys the game an advlt. An advlt doesn`t need to be helped so much by silly aids.

Out would go `empty` messages on empty stuff.
Out would go the gPS compass pointing to places and especially people, but the map in the Pip Boy would be available.
Out would go massive messages popping up in my face. they would be placed as small notes in the corner and in the Pip Boy like many Mods do.
Radiation would be a little harsher.
Role stats would be a little slower but mean more in gameplay.
It would be almost impossible to be good at every single thing.
Storylines would be fully completed, especially on DLCs. I hate watching an NPC just stand there because his `job` is done and now his life has no more worth.
Ironsights view in ALL weapons (although I hear Vegas does this now).
Better companion AI than default with more orders.
Toples nudity would be permissable where reasonable. Possibly even full nudity. In a game where murder of a city, swearing children and cannibalism exists, I see nudity as not a problem.

That`s all the main things I can think of for now and finally....

STEAM would be OPTIONAL. Buyers would be able to buy a non-Steam version of the game so those not on the internet could play, therfore being fair as well as increasing profits. This would be a biggie, i`d have everyone in the conference room on this and if some wazak said, "But every company is using Steam now, Steam is the way! I am a child of Steam!" i`d have him instantly sacked, no pay.

Live without it.

This basically :thumbsup:

Yes same here you arnt any special...

....And Better writing (not saying it was horrible, but it could've been better), Slower Leveling, it was way too fast in vanilla. Get rid of that ugly Over The Shoulder third person camera view, Not make everything in the wasteland with a green tint. Make companions with a more complex backstory, it seemed that in FO3 they had none. Better walking and running animations. It seemed like they were a bit stiff (unnatural) I never really paid much attention to it till I came back to it after taking a 3 or 4 month break (New Vegas)

That's all I can think of ATM, although I'm sure there's more.

I would've given more attention to the animation. Out of all the things that annoyed me about Fallout 3, the animation was the biggest problem. If this was just a strictly gameplay driven game with no focus on the atmosphere, it wouldn't have bothered me. But considering that immersion and atmosphere is a huge part of the Fallout 3 experience, the animation continuously seemed to pull me out of the otherwise immersive Captial Wasteland. It doesn't have to be insanely lifelike or perfectly human or anything, just not as stiff and unconvincing as I thought it was in Fallout 3

I'd also like to put some New Vegas style iron sights, thought that's just because I like iron sights, not because I think the game would be better with them

Now that you mention that, if it wasn't a combat skill then I would say that 50% was good enough to accomplish most things. There were places were even mediocre skills had decent chances to succeed.

I enjoy reading the comments to my post and can see where FO3 falls short. It all feels like I read it before in other threads. Actually, I was hoping that I wasn't alone in having wild ideas about changing canon and tradition. Surely someone has wished to butcher the Fallout world to fit their own character goals. For example: I would love to play a cowardly sniveling scumbag who lives off the charity of those who have power and are amused by them. These type of pacifist settlers would be known as "svckers" because we would tend to any unofficial business to please the ruling class which includes spying on neighbors who do not show adequate respect to their betters or faith in belief, reporting those who conduct transactions without the proper attire on the hand or forehead, collecting rent and taxes, spreading rumors to assassinate someone's character, being the communicator between criminals and the town watch, picking children to send to the slavers, and cleaning armpits with my tongue.

Yes, however considering I would have lots of resources, I would make it a bigger game with origins options in addition to what was already set in stone for Van Buren with the prisoner. Probably make higher-res textures and the like as well.

Yes!

And, like barrettsfloyd added, I would have liked Slower Leveling and more filled in backstories for all of the followers.

I would have like better follow through on the quests. Especially in BigTown where I think the player should be recognized and welcomed into the town as a member after things are done; as well as the dialogue there including the player as a town member. He/she could help with that barricade. Also, I hate that Charon is completely ignored in Tenpenny Tower. It's just such a glaringly painful absence. I think it's especially bad that Dashwood doesn't say anything about the player having a ghoul companion. So, ya, I think there should be dialogue with all of the humans in TT with the player about him if he's following the player. And Fawkes too, because you'd think they'd be just as paranoid about him considering what bigots they are.

A better Raider society established in Evergreen Mills. Something that looks more like a town, with a boss, characters with names, etc. Maybe even some kids. Quests, etc.

Just a few adjustments. Nothing major.

-Having the ability to run instead of jogging.
-Iron sights.
-Smarter AI.
-Wider array of modern(esque) weaponry.

I wasn`t saying I was. But I was speaking only for my country since I do not know what rating other countries may have. I don`t see what was `special` about what i said.

I would make a couple of changes although I'm pretty satisfied with FO3 there is always room for improvement.

1. More Hairstyles, I hate having only one good looking hairstyle for the Female Character.

2. Get rid of the level 30 Cap. Max level would be 99 and the leveling would slow down at level 50.

3. Add more skills. Since I would get rid of the level 30 cap I would add 7-10 more skills.

4. Change the way skills are leveled up and the amount of skill points. You would only get 5 skill points per level regardless of Intelligence. Tags would be higher at 25 points instead of 15.

5. Charisma isn't useless as it would directly affect your Speech Skill and general feelings among the other NPC's (Kinda Similar to Charisma in FO1 and 2).

6. Enemies would be similar in levels to what they were in FO3 but I would adjust it a little bit to compensate for the low amount of skill points you get at level up. Although that doesn't mean I'm going to make it easy.

7. Reduce the number of skill books to 5 per skill and increase the amount of skill gained to 5 from 1 (10 with Comprehension)

8. Skills would be maxed at 250 points

9. Adding in Traits is the most obvious thing that needs to be done including the Gifted Trait (+1 Special Stats -10 Skill Points for all skills)

10. VATS would be set at 100 points but the amount that is used for Weapons is increased.

11. Ironsights Mode, Damage Threshold on certain enemies like Deathclaws althoug I would still have Damage Resistance.

12. Lastly, Grim Reaper Sprint, Almost Perfect, and Educated are gone.

Ability to alter the ammount of XP gained without changing difficulty would be nice. When I get the urge for new content or someting different I'll get a mod or two applied to the game.

Again. I would've finished this. Maybe done a couple personal tweaks, but this is the Fallout 3 that we wanted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uuDKrY7eW0

Van Buren or New Vegas.

If it had to be in DC I would have changed.

1) The Enclave. I would have made them fewer in number. Original Fallout 2 PA and have them as a back ground faction (Remants looking for anold bunker that was to be in DC "Raven Rock.") Edit: Or just remove them, would be better lore wise.

2) Would have made it so the ending slides tell me what the hell happens to the people.

3) Damage Threshold and Reputation System.

4) Make it so I could join Talon Company.

5) Finish alot of quests I feel could have been bigger. Like the guy trying to control super mutants and ghouls. His notes say how he would like to get his hands on a Behemoth. I wish I could have helped him control the one at Evergreen Mills. Then Kill the guy and take control of my own Behemoth.

I guess what I am saying is I would have added in everything Bethesda removed like Damage Threshold and make the game moral grey not Black and White. Main protagonist would have been the Commonwealth and not the Enclave. I would have had fighting between outcast and Lyons.

Most importaint thing. Remove Harold/Bob tree from the game. Replace him with Van Buren Harold. :fallout:

I'd have just removed the Enclave all together, to be able to join them would raise too many questions.

This would cripple the story's ending like broken steel did biggest dlc [censored] up imo.