Fallout 4... is coming (10 Nov 2015)

[Joun_Lord]

I'm looking forward towards Fallout 4 but I hope they'll get rid of some of the stupidity that has been present in previous games. I mean, unless a particular rundown building has been previously occupied, I'd rather not find in every second desk\filing cabinet\etc... bottle caps, ammo or other such loot. Bad enough there's computers that still function AND have power after 200 years. Where are they getting the power from? If that shattered building is still getting electricity why don't we see constant sparks from ruptured wiring? These are just a bunch of little pet peeves but it does break the SoD.

Nevertheless, yay Fallout 4!

The loot system is a bit weird, especially finding bottlecaps in a cash register that was supposed to not be touched for 200 years.

The computer thing makes since sometimes. People apparently repair and refurbish computers, sometimes just to create traps, but most computers are long since burned out. The power can be explained in the fact there are fission batteries that power alot of things, for instances street lamps in New Vegas you can see hooked up to bigass fission batteries, and there are still power plants running in some areas. DC had a few power plants, the Pitt had atomic turbines that were nearly depleted at like 10% remaining after 200 years, while New Vegas has Hoover Dam and to a much lesser extent Helios One powering it.

Plus like the radios the computers don't even seem to be hooked up to anything. You can find radios and computers sitting in the middle of nowhere running just fine suggesting they have their own power sources.

The lack of sparks on walls I guess can be considering another fuck-up on the part of the game textures, much how like even in prison cells chunks of the walls are missing in what would be an obvious no-no that would create an easy suicide opportunity for prisoners.

[Gandalf]

Flagg? I know you're in pain, I know you're feeling miserable, but take your negativity and stuff it.

Fallout is a classic for a reason, and frankly, it's all because of the reasons you just badmouthed. Now, get out of the thread, unless you have something useful to say about the topic.

People like the series because the setting is frustratingly nonsensical and its execution buggy? I thought it was popular in spite of those things.

And Flagg's got a point about the whole post-apocalyptic Scavenged Punk aesthetic not making a lot of narrative sense. The third game's supposedly set what, two hundred years after the war? Someone should've thought to start quarrying some stone by now, or finding a pre-war clay pit and making bricks.

Yeah, I could sort of buy the setting of NV; It was like a Baudrillardian Wild West nightmare. But it just got deeply frustrating after a while because the game never seemed to work out its silly/serious balance.

[Grumman]

I like the setting. I think trying to pass it off as "200 years later" is the mistake.

[Flagg]

Flagg? I know you're in pain, I know you're feeling miserable, but take your negativity and stuff it.

Fallout is a classic for a reason, and frankly, it's all because of the reasons you just badmouthed. Now, get out of the thread, unless you have something useful to say about the topic.

I have nothing against the originals made 20 years ago. And your opinion that the horribly stupid drabness and overall nonsense look of the setting is what made them a classic may be right and may be wrong, I don't care. I happen to think it was important things like gameplay and story. The main reason I badmouth the aesthetic made and was cool in the 90's when Cathode Ray Tubes were the bees knees, but the idea that in a couple hundred years all of society and technology (except for some robots, mech suits, and nuclear cars) will regress into some kind of retro 50's nuclear wonderland is stupid in the 21st century is my opinion, and I'm entitled to express it.

And to be clear, if it's not already, I'm talking about the horrid, buggy, and godawful Fallout games made within the last decade that bear no resemblance whatsoever gameplay-wise to the originals which I will concede are considered classics by most of the PC gaming community. As far as my "negativity", I despise it when turds who sell and review well mostly by value of their names get sequel after sequel when truly excellent games like "World in Conflict" are virtually ignored.

And why are people exited by a CG movie and a single non-gameplay screenshot? What's the game about? What's the geographical setting/settings? What gameplay changes will be made and will they improve the game at all? People are exited for one reason and one reason only: It's called "Fallout 4". And that's the worst thing about this industry. Because for every big named blockbuster sequel with a meta score of 9+ there are other great games without famous titles that are ten times better and either never reviewed or they get an 8 or below because they don't tip their reviewers.

[Flagg]

I like the setting. I think trying to pass it off as "200 years later" is the mistake.

Exactly. If this were some kind of alternate timeline and it was during the "Nuclear 1950's" that the war took place and it's alternate timeline 2015 in the wastes I could get behind it.

[Joun_Lord]

but the idea that in a couple hundred years all of society and technology (except for some robots, mech suits, and nuclear cars) will regress into some kind of retro 50's nuclear wonderland is stupid in the 21st century is my opinion, and I'm entitled to express it.

Technology in Fallout never regressed, it just evolved along a different path from out own, a path more along the lines of what the future was envisioned in the 50s.

The world of Fallout is a retro 50s version of the future where tubes are still king, robots look like Robbie the Robot, computers are massive affairs, fedora's aren't just the hat of neckbeards, and America is still fighting for freedom and democracy and capitalism against godless Commies. Technology, fashion, and even politics didn't much change from the 50s all the way up to 2077 and only changed then for obvious reasons.

See this for an idea of what the setting of Fallout is about.

[Batman]

I'm with Flagg-FO3 and NV were pretty poor successors to the original Fallouts. And I'm including FOT in this.

[loomer]

I thought New Vegas an entirely worthy successor myself.

[InsaneTD]

The geographical setting on the new fallout is clearly shown. One of the shots shows a what I can only assume is a very famous landmark for Americans. It also suggests what the setting for the game is.

I am noticing slavery/people smuggling of some sort seems to be a theme in fallout games. It's not as overt in New Vegas as it is in earlier games, (player can't actively take part except to free in NV).

[Flagg]

The geographical setting on the new fallout is clearly shown. One of the shots shows a what I can only assume is a very famous landmark for Americans. It also suggests what the setting for the game is.

Would you care to tell us where you think it's set or are you just going to keep being vague? Because while I don't mind CGI game trailers, this one isn't exactly what I would call worthy of re-watching.

[Grumman]

It's Boston.

[Flagg]

but the idea that in a couple hundred years all of society and technology (except for some robots, mech suits, and nuclear cars) will regress into some kind of retro 50's nuclear wonderland is stupid in the 21st century is my opinion, and I'm entitled to express it.

Technology in Fallout never regressed, it just evolved along a different path from out own, a path more along the lines of what the future was envisioned in the 50s.

The world of Fallout is a retro 50s version of the future where tubes are still king, robots look like Robbie the Robot, computers are massive affairs, fedora's aren't just the hat of neckbeards, and America is still fighting for freedom and democracy and capitalism against godless Commies. Technology, fashion, and even politics didn't much change from the 50s all the way up to 2077 and only changed then for obvious reasons.

See this for an idea of what the setting of Fallout is about.

I know what retrofuturism is, and barring a good reason for it (like Cylons in nBSG causing a huge regression in computers and especially networked computers, meaning going back to pen and paper, and having massive spaceships with virtually no automation), it's fucking stupid. Especially when everything I read about Fallout says it's in our timeline, but since it was made almost 20 years before an iPad or iPhone (both of which could easily play both games at the same time with no issues), the developers just assumed it would be gigantic supercomputers and CRT screens forever, likely because they had no idea what the near future would look like. The '50's shit was just stupid camp.

[Flagg]

It's Boston.

How unfortunate. I was hoping for somewhere interesting, like Hawaii or New Orleans. Who wants to bet we get some bullshit "New Revolutionary War" plot?

But thank you for just saying it and not being as vague as possible.

[AMT]

See this for an idea of what the setting of Fallout is about.
I know what retrofuturism is, and barring a good reason for it (like Cylons in nBSG causing a huge regression in computers and especially networked computers, meaning going back to pen and paper, and having massive spaceships with virtually no automation), it's fucking stupid. Especially when everything I read about Fallout says it's in our timeline, but since it was made almost 20 years before an iPad or iPhone (both of which could easily play both games at the same time with no issues), the developers just assumed it would be gigantic supercomputers and CRT screens forever, likely because they had no idea what the near future would look like. The '50's shit was just stupid camp.

Actually it's not our timeline at all. It's a separate timeline which deviated sometime around WWII where the 50's aesthetics stuck.
Hell, they didn't even have transistors in that timeline until the mid 21st century

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Divergence

[Titan Uranus]

The fallout timeline had 13 commonwealths by 1969, the declaration of war on Vietnam, and if you really want to be pendantic then you could argue that it diverged in the 1860's due to Lincoln's Repeater. Also, we kept going to the moon.

[Joun_Lord]

but the idea that in a couple hundred years all of society and technology (except for some robots, mech suits, and nuclear cars) will regress into some kind of retro 50's nuclear wonderland is stupid in the 21st century is my opinion, and I'm entitled to express it.

Technology in Fallout never regressed, it just evolved along a different path from out own, a path more along the lines of what the future was envisioned in the 50s.

The world of Fallout is a retro 50s version of the future where tubes are still king, robots look like Robbie the Robot, computers are massive affairs, fedora's aren't just the hat of neckbeards, and America is still fighting for freedom and democracy and capitalism against godless Commies. Technology, fashion, and even politics didn't much change from the 50s all the way up to 2077 and only changed then for obvious reasons.

See this for an idea of what the setting of Fallout is about.

I know what retrofuturism is, and barring a good reason for it (like Cylons in nBSG causing a huge regression in computers and especially networked computers, meaning going back to pen and paper, and having massive spaceships with virtually no automation), it's fucking stupid. Especially when everything I read about Fallout says it's in our timeline, but since it was made almost 20 years before an iPad or iPhone (both of which could easily play both games at the same time with no issues), the developers just assumed it would be gigantic supercomputers and CRT screens forever, likely because they had no idea what the near future would look like. The '50's shit was just stupid camp.

Its not our timeline at all.

In the Fallout timeline there was a massive divergence after World War 2, as talked about in the link AMT posted.

Fallout was released in 1997 and the game it was the spiritual successor to was 1988's Wasteland. In 88 and especially in 97 we had microprocessors, cell phones, color TVs, fairly small computers, flat panel screens, Windows style GUIs and tubes were definitely long past their prime.

The people of Fallout didn't just one day chuck all their flat screens and circuit boards in the trash, they never invented them until right before the Great War.

In Fallout technology, as did most things, remained in stasis from the 50s onward. They just improved upon existing 50s era tech rather then moving towards newer and better ones, which is why Fallout has computers with tubes well into the 21st century. Everything else stayed the same. The looks of cars even when they started turning nuclear. The state of world politics, the Cold War never ended until the Great War made it hot though the Chinese became the Big Bag Commies over the Soviets (which still existed because the Soviet Union never fell). Fashion. Paranoia. Music. We kept going to the moon in Delta rockets up until the 2020s, as Titan Uranus pointed out, right up until the government started converting all the Delta IX rockets into nuclear launch vehicles.

There were alot of changes in the timeline compared to our own such as the US reforming into 13 Commonwealths as already pointed out. We even got a new flag. The European Union never happened, instead becoming the Europeon Commonwealth.

Its a different timeline, not our timeline that regressed back to 50s tech.

[Flagg]

Ahh, ok. Bad info on my part then. Thanks for the info. Still hate the new ones though!

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

That makes a lot more sense than cultural and technological regression, didn't realize the FO series used the divergent history trick. I'm a big fan of it, and have used it in my own settings.

[Imperial528]

Personally I find that most divergences are cultural and political. Yeah, their tech looks old, but given the capabilities seen (power armor, robots, self aware AI, energy weapons, etc) it is clearly in step with and quite possibly more advanced than modern technology would be extrapolated out to the late 21st century.

Yet, like the old sci fi it was modeled on, they never really grasped the potential of networked computers, conversely they had all sorts of things like the aforementioned robots, lasers and even VR.

I can imagine that their equivalents of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were probably pioneers of things like nuclear cars and household reactors. You didn't get computer genius-entrepreneur types until Robert House founded RobCo in the 2040s, IIRC. And even then, the computers were visually simple.

[Lonestar]

No one wants to talk about the Game play?

Also, title needs to be changed to (10 November 2015).

• Character talks
• dialogue wheel
• actual gameplay seems a lot more fluid than the trailer
• VATS slows down time instead of stopping it
• Can be either male or female
• 700 weapon mods
• A motherfuckin Pip-boy special edition

[Grumman]

• Build your own settlements.
• Mix-and-match parts to build your own guns.
• Mix-and-match parts to build your own suit of power armour, including at least one with a jetpack.

[Kojiro]

[*] A motherfuckin Pip-boy special edition[/list]

I will shamelessly admit I pre-ordered for that alone.

It's a Fallout game, so purchasing it was more or less a given but damn I want a real life Pip-Boy!

[InsaneTD]

Anyone want to mention that most of that gameplay was made using a controller at least, was possibly done ON A CONSOLE? If it actually was, that's a huge move away from standard console character creation. Which they seemed to be suggesting (that that's the character creation system used on console as well).

[*] A motherfuckin Pip-boy special edition[/list]

I will shamelessly admit I pre-ordered for that alone.

It's a Fallout game, so purchasing it was more or less a given but damn I want a real life Pip-Boy!

I'll +1 that! I freely admit I squeed a few times.

Also, Fallout Shelter phone game that's off line, free and no premium pay wall? Bethesda showing how mobile gaming should be done.*

*Yes, you can buy extra lunch boxes, but they stressed that you didn't need too to play.


Edit: I blame my phone for all typos I missed.

[TheFeniX]

Character talks

Voiced? Or just like other FallScrolls games?

VATS slows down time instead of stopping it

This needed to happen as VATS was essentially cheating. Combining it with your own run and gun made the combat mostly trivial against anything but the spongiest of damage sponges. Bet money it's still stupidly broken though, and I can't say that all that terrible of a thing. Really, the leveled gameplay will do more to destroy the challenge than anything.

Can be either male or female

I doubt you'll find another Beth game (or anything using their engine) that doesn't offer this for the foreseeable future. It's good info to have, but if I bought a Beth game and couldn't run a female for my second play-through, I'd riot.

[Lagmonster]

VATS slows down time instead of stopping it

This needed to happen as VATS was essentially cheating. Combining it with your own run and gun made the combat mostly trivial against anything but the spongiest of damage sponges. Bet money it's still stupidly broken though, and I can't say that all that terrible of a thing. Really, the leveled gameplay will do more to destroy the challenge than anything.

Won't matter to me. First thing I do with any of these games is change it so that a bullet to the face from even the flimsiest of pipe guns is instantly lethal. For me and/or anyone else. In an attempt to make it so that VATS action points are the one and only thing between success and death.