The First Fallout 4 Details Revealed - Update

[WanderingFool]

Is this what it feels like to be an old grumpy fan who doesn't like change? I feel like a lot of these things should make me giddy but they don't.

The voiced protagonist while cool seems really limiting and jarring considering fallout was still one of those RPGs you could be the character and immerse yourself and not just watch and control some other dudes story.

The new settlement should be amazing but it just seems really gimmicky to add into a series after 4 games that didn't really need it.

The new crafting system for weapons and power armor did seem really cool and amazing but i have one quibble.

Power armor are not small scale mechs they're battlesuits that amplified a soldiers power not a robot that the soldier piloted. And why does it have jet packs? Why is power armor tech advancing when nobody has the tech to make them anymore except the enclave (please don't bring them back for a third time, please).

(I'm all over that ios game and real life pip boy though, i want it so much)

Sounds like you dont like it... So can I have your copy? Cause at this point, I see not a fucking thing wrong...

Oh no, I'm getting the collector's edition and i'm going to play the crap out of the game, I love the franchise and I'm going to support it. I criticize like a teacher criticizes a student, I still like them but i see things that disappoint me and I wish were changed and made better.

In retrospect most things seem pretty cool now, the only things I still don't like are the voiced protagonist and the fact that power armor looks like a vehicle and not armor

Well, shit... Guess ill have to buy my own copy after all. To be hones, I like the idea of the power armor being a little mini-mecha suit.

 

[silver wolf009]

I don't know why people are crying bugs now. If I'm not thinking backwards, Skyrim launched basically bug free, right?

Also, my friend has been crossing his fingers for it to be more of a shooter, and now he's got his wish. You did it man, and you pissed so many people off.

 

[immortalfrieza]

Actually, i didnt think about it before you said it, but wouldnt 200 years be enough to pretty much start rebuilding civilization already. I mean yes people got nuked but not everything got destroyed. we dont start from scratch. heck, in F3 they even had a functioning ship. Some local government setups would definitely happen within 200 years.

As far as vegetation goes. If it was a true nuclear winter, no vegetation survives. as in, it would ALL be dead except things that can survive for years without light. and that would mean pretty much no bushes or trees anywhere, perhaps some grass survives. Interetingly enough, perhaps somone could re-populate the vegetation in 200 years, surely some seeds have survived in vaults.

Let's see here... a population in the hundreds of millions was reduced to the tens of thousands at the most 200 years ago, there's crazy raiders, hyper aggressive giant mutated monsters, and malfunctioning insane robots everywhere attacking everybody at all times, deadly radiation in little pools as the BEST case scenario, dangerously unstable barely standing abandoned buildings that have gone decades if not centuries without any sort of maintenance are about as good as it gets for shelter without having to build it from scratch, the vast majority of the tech around either broke centuries ago or was exposed to the elements for 200 years most of which very very few have a clue how to fix, and everybody is trying to survive and rebuild in a country that was extremely low on resources of all kinds before the bombs even fell in the first place, the knowledge of where even what meager resources are still there probably having been completely lost. Having to rebuild society in this sort of situation is worse than starting from scratch, it's like climbing a mountain everybody else has already climbed but being the only one forced to do it with a half ton weight strapped to their back. Considering how royally screwed up the entire country seems to be I'm not surprised that even 200 years isn't enough for much rebuilding.

Voiced protagonist? Sold!

Seconded, I love the idea. I always find it far more immersive to have a character with a voice and thus an actual personality that I can hear rather than having to imagine and I rarely ever bother with self inserting because games have not gotten anywhere near the point where that is anything but massively immersion breaking in the first place. The dialog wheel is good, it's no less limiting than a list of choices anyway, makes everything less predictable since one can only get a general idea of what is going to be said, and it clutters up the screen less so no real downside here.

But just so you all know, when it does hit day 1....

Its going to have bugs.

Its going to crash your PC.

Its going to be all f---- up.

Its just the way things are. And you know it will have to be patched 10x before it works properly. Just saying...

Or possibly, like with me and so called "buggy" games one could be extremely lucky and it could be a Day 1 purchase that functions perfectly with no real glitches and bugs or problems of any sort right out of the box.

The player is asked to design a pair of parents, who then enter their vault and their child exits the vault 200 years later? Woohoo! Ghoul playable characters!

Nope. The character will have spent most of it in some sort of stasis or be subject to one of the many crazy Enclave experiments. So you can forget the ghoul thing right away.

Yeah, unfortunately we see the vault dweller to be fully human in the reveal trailer. Shame.

Don't worry, I'm sure if Bethesda doesn't give us the option to begin with modders will put a "ghoul start" mod in a week tops, and the prewar start will even make it really easy to justify it.

Thinking about it, i now know what bothered me with this announcement.
It is not the focus on crafting;
It is not the voiced protagonist;
it is not action oriented VATS;

It is the fact all those additions are just features that were successful in other games. There is not one original idea, there is not one idea that plays to the strengths of the franchise. They may or may not be cool, but this is just design by committee, it is very difficult to be excited with that.

Personally I'd say that's a possible plus, taking cues for systems that most everybody liked from a bunch of different games and putting it into one isn't a bad idea and something I wish more developers would do. After all, Dishonored did the same thing and turned out great for it, so that could happen here. That is provided that it's "taking cues" from them and then trying to improve upon them to the best of their ability instead of just copying it right over or worse missing why everybody liked that in the first place and implementing it poorly, obviously that won't be good.

I've been looking around and I don't see anything that confirms that there are no skills anymore, in fact this pic I found contradicts that:

Why would we need a Barter bobblehead if there's no Barter skill? Either way, as long as a leveling system is worthwhile and follows EXP as opposed to the Elder Scrolls use based system I'll be fine with it whether the skills are there or not.

I loved Fallout 3's story and thought Bethesda did an amazing job of modernizing a decade old series into current gen while keeping it's atmosphere and themes and such intact, New Vegas only being slightly better and most of it's improvements were with the gameplay rather than the story. As a result I have no problem with Bethesda being at the helm and if they are taking cues from Bioware all the better.


The "building a town" thing sounds like a great idea, especially if there's a lot of customization involved. It could help address that whole "why the hell is the world still so crappy after 200 years?" question too by giving an opportunity to show EXACTLY why it's so freaking hard.

This is the same engine they used for Skyrim? If this is indicative of the final game it looks beautiful. That's impressive since it looks even better than Skyrim did, maybe that means that it won't be much more of a resource hog than Skyrim was.

Power armor... I don't know, it looks like you can step in and out of it like something out of Iron Man, which is cool and something I'd sometimes make use of, but I'm concerned whether I'll be able to wear it everywhere and use stealth and everything I could do with power armor in previous games. If I can, great, if not, that's bad, though again I'm sure that's something modders will take care of right away.

Crafting looks great, maybe now the random junk lying around will have some sort of purpose now. I have a few mods in 3 and New Vegas that allowed you to make a bunch of things out of random junk so I'm in favor of this, just as long as it remains optional and you could get all the crap you needed without every having to use it.

Overall though, I'm pretty cautiously optimistic about this. If half of what they show is true it will easily outdo New Vegas at least, and that's enough in my book.

 

[Strazdas]

Let's see here... a population in the hundreds of millions was reduced to the tens of thousands at the most 200 years ago, there's crazy raiders, hyper aggressive giant mutated monsters, and malfunctioning insane robots everywhere attacking everybody at all times, deadly radiation in little pools as the BEST case scenario, dangerously unstable barely standing abandoned buildings that have gone decades if not centuries without any sort of maintenance are about as good as it gets for shelter without having to build it from scratch, the vast majority of the tech around either broke centuries ago or was exposed to the elements for 200 years most of which very very few have a clue how to fix, and everybody is trying to survive and rebuild in a country that was extremely low on resources of all kinds before the bombs even fell in the first place, the knowledge of where even what meager resources are still there probably having been completely lost. Having to rebuild society in this sort of situation is worse than starting from scratch, it's like climbing a mountain everybody else has already climbed but being the only one forced to do it with a half ton weight strapped to their back. Considering how royally screwed up the entire country seems to be I'm not surprised that even 200 years isn't enough for much rebuilding.

You forgot a couple things though.

1. Vaults were made specifically for this. People living there are supposed to know how to work technology and even have it in there. Also a lot of technology would have survived and could be fixed by a handy mechanic. Especially since this is still the 50s tech, where computer electronics werent around yet so things were mechanical all the way (much easier to repair[footnote]Take cars for example. car engines from the 50s are babys toys compared to complexity of modern car engine.[/footnote]).

2. Nuclear winter would not reduce things to tens of thousands at the most. Unless in fallout universe China somehow managed to get tens of thousands of nuclear warheads sucesfully launched, most smaller towns would actually remain relatively unscaved (except for radiation fallout). Looking and Hiroshima and Nagasaki and assuming same kind of destruction, there would still be millions of people left when the bombs fell. While the dangers of extremism and eventual mutants (they didnt appear instantly 200 years ago you know) would certainly limit the posibilities, it would in fact encourage people working together. see, humans are tribal creatures. we need to "Belong to a group". its in our genes. and what better group to belong to than one that is fighting against direct danger to you. Societies would reform. likely primitive dictatorships, but its a start. 200 years is 10 population cycles (rounding average time for children to 20 here). Theres plenty to be done in 10 cycles.

3. The equipment would not go without maintenance for centuries. the people that survived would be the ones maintaining them, transfering their skills to their children, just how it was done in the middle ages and before. I know its a cheesy line, but humans would find a way.

4. We know that entire libraries have survived. the knowledge would still very much be around. as far as resources go, US (and Canada since Canada is anexed in FO universe) is actually pretty good on natural resources. it was even better in the 50s when the policy was "import rather than exploit so we will have some left for the future". Basic energy wouldnt be hard in most areas. windmills and watermills retrofited to provide electricity is a very simple setup and one of the first ones used as power sources in many villages that couldnt afford building their own coal plants. Also ecology is fucked anyway, plants all the way. Not to mention the nuclear power plants. though back then they probably werent automated enough to survive[footnote]modern nuclear power plants would continue to work for decades if people suddenly abandoned them[/footnote]

 

[tetarga]

Snip

It isn't the 50s though, the nuclear war took place 2077, so fusion powered cars and all sorts of advanced stuff only through the lens of 50s "world of tomorrow"

 

[Strazdas]

Snip

It isn't the 50s though, the nuclear war took place 2077, so fusion powered cars and all sorts of advanced stuff only through the lens of 50s "world of tomorrow"

Fair enough, shame on me for not knowing my lore well enough.

 

[MHR]

The only thing I didn't love was that the combat look crappy based on what was seen when the raiders attacked the home and got hit by the flamethrowers and turrets. They sort of lemminged right into it and just ragdolled instantly. No effects or ceremony to be had with any of it. Looks as if they've significantly toned down combat detail to improve performance in order to render more combatants at once.

But yeah, I loved everything else.

 

[MHR]

I don't know why people are crying bugs now. If I'm not thinking backwards, Skyrim launched basically bug free, right?

No

Gawd no

Skyrim had many quest-breaking bugs at launch, barely got any fixed, had to have modders come in to fix many more, and STILL it's infested with bugs. Just last week I had a dead dragon (with its skin still on) spawn on top of me every time I entered a town. I had to look up the console commands to get rid of it after it clipped through a house. [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=455909840]

Right before that, I couldn't get the quest necessary to buy my house from the Hearthfire DLC because, as it turns out, a long time ago I had left an unrelated quest unfinished in a COMPLETELY different town where I had to go fetch a book for a woman who wanted one so I could increase my alchemy skill by 1. It's fucked.

-Half the horses I buy get homesick and head back to the stable I bought them at after I stop riding them.
-My dead thrall minions routinely get lost in between cell transitions.
-3 legion patrolmen decided to attack my thralls for no reason, lost, and I got pinned with 3 murders for watching.
-Zoned in the other day to find Riften guards randomly murdering a horse. Upon investigating, they turned around and shot arrows at me for doing no crime. Wouldn't accept yields, and I had no bounty to arrest me for.
-Yesterday, some vigilants of Stendaar attacked me for healing them.
-Weapon stands and bookshelves in my Whiterun house are duping items. I just remove the items I have saved to them, and when I come back later, they regrow.
-random CTDs still sometimes happen for me when loading specific overworld areas, rare CTD on quicksave, and 100% CTD when leaving Dragonsreach with any followers in-tow.
-Just freakin' etc.


So much bug in that game. Fallout 4 isn't going to be any different.

 

[barbzilla]

Is this what it feels like to be an old grumpy fan who doesn't like change?

Pretty much, yeah. If it makes you feel any better, I felt exactly the same way about Fallout 3. I got over it.

I could have sworn I was the only one that felt that way about 3, but it appears I was wrong. #AmITheOnlyOne

OT:
I'm pretty much looking forward to this. I've given up on getting another traditional fallout experience (outside of wasteland 2, which was semi-close), so instead I've decided to embrace the changes and attempt to enjoy it as is. I still love the setting, and as long as they don't screw up with the story content, I'll probably be happy.

 

[Mahorfeus]

Honestly, for Fallout 4, I more or less wanted a game that changed the franchise as much as the transition from Fallout 2 to Fallout 3 did. What I saw pretty much convinced me that we're getting exactly that. Well, I suppose that is a bit of an exaggeration, but it looks different while still having that distinct Fallout look, which is really all that matters to me.

Also, I keep seeing this "save the baby" plot being mentioned. Did they actually mention something like that at some point, or is it just lousy conjecture?

 

[blackrave]

The funny thing is I never actually used late game power armor. x3 Measured its sheer weight against its damage resistance bonus and, given by that time in the game I'd be all manner of butt-kicking, decide '....ehhhhh, don't really need, IN THE CLOSET YOU GO!' That and I was a sucker for a cowboy hat and Regulator Duster, because Wasteland Cowboy Bounty Hunter ahoy.

I guess you haven't played the original Fallouts, otherwise you would understand how healthy Power Armour is in the wasteland. Though it's true they are not half as good/necessary in 3/New Vegas as they were in 1&2. They became more of a lore item and a status symbol. In 3 I stuck to Railey's Combat Armor myself and still got max damage resistance.

Exactly.
Power armor should be pinnacle of defense (besides stealth), not some crappy armor that barely protects against anything
And I'm not talking about protagonist only.
If you see enemy in PA coming after you, you shouldn't be able to beat it up with a baseball bat (hardest difficulty in FO3)
Or shoot it with BBs/darts/10mm/buckshot, even 5mm or laser is under question.
Anything short of plasma, gauss or high explosives should be considered suicide on hard/v.hard difficulty
Or even better- a tactical nuke (I'm pretty sure PA was reason why those were created)
EMP? EMP should break armor (repair should be necessary to get it back into working condition)

In short- combat-wise soldier in PA should be treated as modern main battle tank not as infantry.

P.S. In addition- PA should not only increase strength, but also directly compensate it's weight, since such armor carries itself.

 

[weirdee]

eh, considering all of the other ridiculous tech that's happened in the game so far, the jetpack suit doesn't seem that farfetched to me, they could play it off as a prototype that never made it to full scale production due to the cost and got sealed off in a lab somewhere right before the bombs dropped

at least they put back the f3 weapons, they were all coded into nv with updated system compatibility but never spawned or anything

 

[ShakerSilver]

I'm going to go against the common opinion that I've seen. I love that our new protagonist is going to be an actual person with personality instead of a blank space to insert yourself into.

The point of a blank slate in an RPG is that you could create ANY role - not just your own self-insert - because y'know, it's a Role-Playing Game. Nothing against the RPGs that would focus on single characters, but part of the older Fallouts and many older RPGs in general was the ability to carve out your own path and allow you to make more meaningful choices in the game's narrative.

With a predetermined personality and backstory, it limits the range of decisions they'll add in if they want to keep that character's personality consistent, thus limiting the player's agency in narrative. That stupid dialogue wheel with 4 vague options to choose from max makes it even more likely that dialogue choices are going to be fucked. I mean it can be done well in some games - Mass Effect did it well (for a couple of games at least), but even they had more than a maximum of 4 dialogue options to choose from at a time.

 

[TheRookie8]

Satisfied with the face customization; it looks better than its ever been. The humor looks to remain intact. The voices, while a little dry in tone and delivery, are honestly serviceable. I'm sure there will be moments where having a voiced character will pay off.

But the best bit? It appears that I will still be able to bludgeon and slug my enemies with abandon.

 

[silver wolf009]

I don't know why people are crying bugs now. If I'm not thinking backwards, Skyrim launched basically bug free, right?

No

Gawd no

Skyrim had many quest-breaking bugs at launch, barely got any fixed, had to have modders come in to fix many more, and STILL it's infested with bugs. Just last week I had a dead dragon (with its skin still on) spawn on top of me every time I entered a town. I had to look up the console commands to get rid of it after it clipped through a house. [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=455909840]

Right before that, I couldn't get the quest necessary to buy my house from the Hearthfire DLC because, as it turns out, a long time ago I had left an unrelated quest unfinished in a COMPLETELY different town where I had to go fetch a book for a woman who wanted one so I could increase my alchemy skill by 1. It's fucked.

-Half the horses I buy get homesick and head back to the stable I bought them at after I stop riding them.
-My dead thrall minions routinely get lost in between cell transitions.
-3 legion patrolmen decided to attack my thralls for no reason, lost, and I got pinned with 3 murders for watching.
-Zoned in the other day to find Riften guards randomly murdering a horse. Upon investigating, they turned around and shot arrows at me for doing no crime. Wouldn't accept yields, and I had no bounty to arrest me for.
-Yesterday, some vigilants of Stendaar attacked me for healing them.
-Weapon stands and bookshelves in my Whiterun house are duping items. I just remove the items I have saved to them, and when I come back later, they regrow.
-random CTDs still sometimes happen for me when loading specific overworld areas, rare CTD on quicksave, and 100% CTD when leaving Dragonsreach with any followers in-tow.
-Just freakin' etc.


So much bug in that game. Fallout 4 isn't going to be any different.

Taking it through context that you played on PC, since you said you used console commands to fix stuff, but the worst I ever had in Skyrim on the 360 was a dragon not giving me his soul once, and that weird glitch where the Deadric blade should be one handed, but is actually two handed.

Guess PC confirmed for afterthought?

 

[icecycle66]

My only problem with the voiced protagonist is that I don't actually often play with sound.
I'll have a radio, or podcast, or audio book, and another TV going on at the same time.
Or I'll be playing on a laptop with the family in the room so I can pretend I'm spending time with my wife.
I read faster than characters speak and comprehend just as quickly as I read.

But surely there will be a closed caption option for hearing impaired people that I can take advantage of.

 

[BakaSmurf]

EDIT: One thing that really bothered me that I haven't seen any one make comment on is the vault jumpsuit. I mean, it's a jumpsuit, it's supposed to be a bit baggy, not skin tight and rubbery looking.

I suppose you started with FO3 then? The vault suits in 1 & 2 were all skin-tight pseudo-spandex, probably in order to invoke the image of the skin-tight astronaut suit commonly shown in 1950's pop culture, which makes sense when you consider that one side-objective of the vaults was to see how well humans would react to specific situations they might encounter while locked in a colony ship travelling to another star system altogether once the Earth goes to shit and isn't worth inhabiting anymore. Bethesda is just looking back at the originals and trying (and succeeding, I might add) to capture and emulate the aesthetics they utilized.

For a more practical reason, the vault suit being skin-tight serves to make it easier to function as the base underclothes portion of the new layered armour system. Or would you rather see baggy bits of cloth clipping through the portions of combat armour you might choose to wear over the vault suit while playing the game?

 

[JonnyHG]

Does anyone know if the dog is optional? I don't want a dog following me around.

 

[Dalek Caan]

Does anyone know if the dog is optional? I don't want a dog following me around.

Don't worry, they have said that you can make him stay in one place forever if you want too.