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[Krevsin]

Meh. I guess I overreacted. Honestly, I just hate that most discussions about Fallout 4 tend to devolve into 'here's ten reasons why new vegas was better' or 'i will now spend six paragraphs talking about how shit fallout 4 is.' Sooo, yeah. Kinda makes me feel like I'm the outlier in online communities

Well, New Vegas is better plain and simple. The shooting is worse, but its story and world are superior in almost every aspect (apart from environmental variety because NV is mostly just desert, desert, some urban desert, New Vegas, desert, old abandoned buildings, desert and an occassional bunker. Also did I mention the desert?)

Kinda hard to get around those discussions when there exists a superior game within the series itself. 

[Iceblaster]

That's not the point.

The point is, is that I seem to see a trend where New Vegas is brought up when it has no relation to Fallout 4 simply because it's a game in the franchise. I want to discuss fallout 4, not New Vegas.

i mean, we could just have the next game be a remaster of new vegas and then again on a new engine and again and again.

[Krevsin]

Well a game within a franchise is going to be compared to other games within the franchise. That's how franchises work. 

Also games are going to be compared to other games within their genre. The same applies for any media.

[Iceblaster]

Meh. I dunno. I just feel like a ton more complaining for the sake of complaining about Bethesda happens way more than actual discussion here. And a bunch of other places. Not specifically to put NV up on a pedestal, but really just a general 'fallout 4 is a bad game' way. I like the game and all, so I can't really join in most of the time unless I wanna defend everything in the game.

but meh. who cares. just a game

[Krevsin]

Well illustrating how a something is done badly is most easily done by providing an example of doing it right.

Anyway, to offset the balance of the thread let me gush about an aspect of Fallout 4 I absolutely adore.

I really like the art direction of the game. I adore that they doubled down on the retrofuturism of the setting and thus made it visually distinct from the flood of generic postapocalyptic games that seems to have befallen us in recent years. I love the fact that the world has vibrancy and colour to it and yet still feels desolate and dangerous. I love the redesigned mirelurks and how the feral ghouls move around, dodge you and throw themselves at you after climbing out of nooks and crannies and plopping from the ceiling with a moist thud sound.

But most of all I love the shape and look of protectrons. Seriously they are the best. I love them and I want a model of one. I liked protectrons in 3 and NV as well but only in Fallout 4 they look really amazing.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Just look at it! Isn't it the most adorable thing ever?

So while Fallout 4 doesn't have the finest graphics ever created, I truly do love the art direction of the game. It's just a game that I like looking at, despite its textures not being the most detailed or the occassional clipping. It's just a good-looking game IMO.

[Iceblaster]

Yeah. I think they did a good job redesigning basically everything. Especially mirelurks. Old engine couldn't do what new engine can, sooo... Having mirelurks still be distinctly crabby, but not _{craaaab people} is good.

Also, I really wish they brought in the Centaurs. The concept art was delightfully horrifying.

[Krevsin]

Yeah, centaurs would be nice but we got super mutant puppies (or should I say Super Muttants) instead. Which is just as good IMO.

[Iceblaster]

Yeah. Honestly, I think if they put Centaurs in it would've been great though. Even as a passive creature that wanders the glowing sea. Something different from previous incarnations, but still nightmare fuel all the same.

[Sergius]

So anyone use the V.A.N.S. perk? Kinda wondering if it means it points to the closest quest out of your ACTIVE quests, or the closest one out of ALL your quests.
Cuz if its the second one it would actually be worth getting in survival mode, since no fast travel means getting everything in the area done on the first go is desirable.

I've used VANS when I've got really lost trying to figure out how to get to some damn rooftop (because the door is too obscured or something), but only if I have a perk point lying around and then immediately go back to my latest savegame.

[NullForceOmega]

New F4 thread quest:  Insane fan theory time!!

Null's insane fan theory (disclaimer, this is just for fun, I don't believe for a second that this is true):  Elder Maxson is not who he claims to be.

Following the events of Broken Steel, the Lone Wanderer decides that the Brotherhood needs to be restructured to better cope with the larger problems of the wasteland.  Finding Lyons and most of his loyalists unwilling to consider a more militaristic preventative approach, the Wanderer approaches the Outcasts and under cover of reunifying the two factions orchestrates the removal of all high command loyalists.  Over several years the Wanderer erases as much of Lyons' BoS as possible, including squire Maxson, then assumes direct command.  In order to further their goals the Wanderer begins impersonating Maxson, regaining the West Coast Brotherhood's Elders trust and cooperation.

Stupid motivation stuff: the Wanderer feels insecure in the wasteland, having seen how unstable it is they begin to unconsciously emulate the most relevant authority figure they know, Overseer Almodovar.  The Wanderer first assumes Maxson's identity in a panic, to respond to a west-coast BoS communique, and later decides that becoming Maxson would be advantageous as it would lend greater weight to their leadership, not to mention that the Lone Wanderer's exploits make for a natural Brotherhood 'hero' figure (killing a Deathclaw solo anyone?)

There, insane theory for your amusement.

[Grim Portent]

I think it makes more sense to think in terms of the canon version, if only because Maxson is too young to be the Lone Wanderer by a good ten years or so, though there are other reasons besides that.


My take on it is:

Maxson's hero figures as a child were Sarah Lyons and the Lone Wanderer, two figures with extensive combat experience and a preference for military solutions to problems, and Elder Lyons who he respected as a leader when he was a child but later viewed as misguided.

Sarah Lyons died in combat, probably before Elder Lyons died, while fighting super mutants to defend the Capital Wasteland. The Lone Wanderer did as their name implies and wandered away to carry on their adventures in the wastes, pursuing whatever whims and drives motivated them after the death of their father. Elder Lyons died with no clear successor and was succeeded by a series of ineffective leaders with little skill at command who frittered the Brotherhood away trying to pursue Lyon's goals.

So his soldier hero died a martyr, his outsider hero left after his duty was done proving the merit of wastelanders to him, though also their unreliability, and his peaceful childhood leader died and had his legacy disgraced by those who came after him. Maxson winds up spending a lot of his youth as a soldier under the command of  ineffective leaders with no military experience and few concrete goals.

Being part of the military branch of the Brotherhood, as well as having had a great deal of respect for soldiers in his childhood and having been taught the Maxson line was one of strong leadership and tradition he comes to the conclusion that the Brotherhood needs military leadership, a strong hand at the helm and to reshape itself without the isolationism of the West Coast Brotherhood or the soft hand of Lyons' Brotherhood. Absorbing the Outcasts contributes to the new perspective of the Brotherhood as it takes on some of their animosity to outsiders.

This leads to the new East Coast Brotherhood, highly militant, authoritarian, interventionist, short on mercy, more than a little paranoid, with more authority granted to the military branch over the scientific and administrative branches. Maxson expands recruitment to keep numbers up as he steps up their operation to kill all feral ghouls and mutants in the Capital Wasteland, and sends out scouts to look for threats and possible resources in nearby areas, which leads to the invasion of the Commonwealth.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

I realize this started a number of pages back, but I just wanted to chime in with muh two cents. Settlement building is bad in FO4 because it's almost a direct copy of the RTS: Real Time Settler mod first developed for FO3--just sayin'. At least in style of the building mechanics with some other resource managment tacked on.

[NullForceOmega]

I think it makes more sense to think in terms of the canon version, if only because Maxson is too young to be the Lone Wanderer by a good ten years or so, though there are other reasons besides that.


My take on it is:

snip

The reason I came up with this is that the depiction of Maxson in 4 is too old, he looks like he's in his thirties (actually rather like mid to late thirties), or at least in his late twenties.  Maxson should look much younger than 'thesda's model of him and I am saying this as someone who looks much older than my age, have done so since my mid-teens, and have experienced a lot of 'hard living' I've had grey and white since I was twenty-seven.

Also, it's an insane theory, just for fun.

[Draignean]

Ah, just got done with the current round of modding, and so far things look pretty damn good. Essentially, Fallout 4 is now a survival horror game. It's always night, all the time, and the nights are almost pitch black. Interior lighting is likewise modified for a darker feel, making any stay, however brief, in a lighted region immensely relaxing. The pip-boy, instead of being a 360 glow, is a focused flashlight- I'm still playing with the size of the beam. Music is also altered to support the horror atmosphere.

The first little kerfuffle you get into with Mole Rats at the Red-Rocket gas station? Tense as hell with the current settings.

Spoiler: Flashlight Off (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Flashlight On (click to show/hide)

Spawns and global damage are increased.It's occasionally a very good idea to take advantage of the darkness, snuff your light, and hide in the closest corner you can find.

[Jimmy]

Interesting. Looks good. Does this mod retain alerted enemies as red pips on the HUD or remove them like in Survival mode?

Linky for mod?