Just a Rant

[valcon767]

wall of text warning

 

this is just a rant about some stuff i think Beth got wrong .. this is just PERSONAL opinions.

 

POWER ARMOR

 

multiple kinds = nice

available all over the place = huh 

how soon you get it = what are you thinking??

 

power armor is(was) higher level/top end gear.  it should not become available 30 minutes into the game and at level 2-3.

in older versions they had it right halfway to two thirds the way through the game it becomes available.   at this time it makes a nice upgrade and while plentiful,

if you knew what you were doing, it was NOT tossed around like candy.

 

this could have done been better by either 

1 - very limited locations (and none near Sanctuary)

2 - level lock it (for example t-45 lvl 20, t-51 level 30, t-60, lvl 40, and x-01 lvl 50) and have it require spending a perk point to be able to use it.

 

 

SURVIVAL MODE (aka stupid mode)

 

THANK YOU to all modders who created mods to fix this stupidity.

i really like survival play, just NOT the stupid stuff they did to put it in.   i use AN76 for survival, gee i like it lots better

 

1 - no ability to adjust any parameters - sheesh this is not that hard to do (could live with)

2 - being over encumbered means continuous damage.  level 30 strong back perk stops this.  again something i could live with.

      Pip-Boy can show 300/300 encumbrance and you take damage because it is actually 300.01/300, and yes you can actually die due to this.  ughh

      being over encumbered also means crippled legs slowing you down drastically.   OUCH

3 - no fast travel EVER other than a very few specific parts where it MUST work.  hmmm (ok i guess i could have lived with this)

     but they could have let you fast travel from settlements that were connected by supply lines.  this would have been better and even made sense

     as you could ride the brahim your provisioner is leading.

4 - can only save after sleeping.  not to bad, but could have tied a rare item to allow you to do so other spots making it much better overall.

5 - limited console use for PC users.  WTF???  seriously WHAT THE F*** WERE YOU THINKING???????  limiting the main debugging tool needed to fix

     all the mistakes/bugs inherent in the game???   just no i absolutely REFUSE to do that.

     i mean think about, you put 200+ hours into a playthrough and hit a bug/glitch that is game breaking and need the console to fix, but due to it

     being limited, the command you need to use to fix it is NOT able to be used, meaning guess what game over.

 

DLC (AUTOMATRON) ISSUES

 

Nuka World/Far Harbor

ok they sort of start at certain levels, but you have to actually go to a (out of the way) location and do something to start them fully.  then they do not affect

the main part of the Commonwealth unless you MAKE them do so.

 this was GREAT.

 

then there is AUTOMATRON

starts at a certain level (this part is ok)

ughhh what else they did with it S***S

 

i mean really not an out the way location ..this part is ok, but if you pass anywhere even remotely close to said location the DLC is now started,

even if you do not see it start???

 

then to make it even worse is what else it does to random encounters

half of all random encounters are now Automatron encounters??  REALLY???  WHY????

i do agree they should be part of the list of random encounters, but having them show up that often is just way too often as there are so many less choices.

a much better way would have been to just add Automatron's random encounters to the list of choices, NOT replace the total list half the time.

and the worst part is once they show up at this rate it NEVER lowers again, not even after you finish the DLC.

talk about lowering the fun in the game badly.  ohh a random encounter ...sigh its just that same set of robots for the umpteenth time in a row.

 

well i am looking on the bright side that modders created mods to fix both of those issues.

 

 

ok rant over.

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by valcon767

[katrina.balanchuk]

Okay I'll bite, ?

 

Wall of text does noty bother me, my generation still has no attention deficit. 

 

I believe the devs put put PA at so many different places because they really wanted to make sure players could get one, even if they failed to repair their 1st (or 2nd) etc broken  set.

 

I usually do not use power armor, ; when I do a normal (to me) playthrough as I dont want to hide my pretty outfits.

But when I play as a guy with male agency and violence, I always wear power armor.

Its a lot of fun and feels empowering to go ttrundle through the wastes with it.

 

And that you have to repair it, which is realistic IMO.

 

Far harbor is just a beautiful masterpiece the atmosphere and evertything. I really enjoy building happy settlments there to push back the curse on the island.

 

I never enjoyed automatron.Its simply imposible to play immersivly as a attarctive young female character.

I played it as a guy charcter one time (and it was not bad) and since then never again. Not really interested in building any robots.

 

Now on a new playthrough, I set it with DLC timing mod to level 300 to fire and of course i never reach level 300, since i use level cap mod set for max level 9.

Many of the loverslab adventures just would make not make any sense if my character is a big butch which is what a high level would imply to me.

 

Nuka world is also a game where only a higher lvel charcter full of agency for violence can be successful to even get past into the worldspace and I dont usually play like that.

 

I never tried survival yet and I seek out mods that make it more of a social game and never download any weapon or armor mods since that is not my interest.

Anyway sorry I digressed  alot form your original post.

 

Did not want to hijack the thread.?

 

 

[valcon767]

6 hours ago, katrina.balanchuk said:

I believe the devs put put PA at so many different places because they really wanted to make sure players could get one, even if they failed to repair their 1st (or 2nd) etc broken  set.

 

I usually do not use power armor,

And that you have to repair it, which is realistic IMO.

 

I never enjoyed automatron.

do not care to about thread being hijacked, was really more so i had wrote it somewhere at least once.

 

mostly i do not use PA either.

the fact that it ends up needing repairs is a good thing. i like that too.

 

i did not care for automatron either.  only goodish thing is the single NPC at the end.   and then that is only due to mods so i can either

enslave her or clone her to use in a settlement.

 

on the PA thing its not that they put out so many, or that its so easy to get, or that its so low leveled now, its that they did all 3.

i guess my biggest pet peeve with it is just how easy it is to get more (over 30 set locations, 3 shops sell the frames, 1 sells pieces, plus enemies wear it too).

 

got a kind of funny thing i saw last game, i do have mods in that let me have children, anyway so last game i  built a multi-floor PA storage/display depot.

this was in Sanctuary.   so knowing i have o start a new game due to a mod i really like needing it to work right, i wen t to PA depot and stuck fusion corers

in al PA i had collected.  so i go to barracks balcony where i could see it just to look for a second then the funny happens.  i get a notice that Sanctuary is being

attacked.  oh now this i just have to see.  it was hilarious watching a total of 40 slaves, settlers, and children run up to the PA depot, jump in PA, some of them climbed

6 stories to do so, then charge off to combat.  of course by the time the last of the settlers had got in power armor i had already gotten the notification that 

the attack was beaten off.  i went looking for the attackers bodies.  what i found in total after searching for about 2 hours RL time was 1 attack dog and 1

raider.  the raider was not even any variation like raider scum, raider psycho, just plain old raider.  so then Sanctuary is now full of people wearing power armor,

because of course they do not take it back off.  funny to see someone in power armor digging in the dirt tending crops, selling booze, working at the scrap bench.

walking around Sanctuary after that sounds like walking through a machine shop, ka-chunk, ka-chunk everywhere.  of course what i found funniest about 

the whole thing was not all of them in PA, but that i still had over a dozen full sets still at my depot.

 

 

 

 

[izzyknows]

Only 1 tiny bit of information makes the entire game nothing more than a sandbox.

You've been frozen a bit over 210 years.....

When I got that info, at 23 minutes into my very first run, I quit and started adding mods.

 

[M.BISON]

I've been playing FO4 for the past few months and agree with some of those points.

 

Survival imo is the best and only way to play this game for me, the other difficulties are too easy or major bullet sponges.

 

Thank fuck for Unlimited survival mod!

 

Yes, AUTOMATRON is BS! I don't like fighting robots. Use this for decreased spawn https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/28891. The final fight was something else lol, glad it was over.

 

Recently started Nuka world. At first I thought: wow this is cool, then it did the usual Bethesda thing of PC the centre of the universe ?. Plus their shitty writing couldn't even make an alternative double cross scenario.

 

I really don't like that my character can ally with EVERYONE!

 

Trying to write it without giving too much away of the story ?

[valcon767]

5 hours ago, M.BISON said:

Survival imo is the best and only way to play this game for me, the other difficulties are too easy or major bullet sponges.

Thank fuck for Unlimited survival mod!

 

Yes, AUTOMATRON is BS! I don't like fighting robots. Use this for decreased spawn https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/28891. The final fight was something else lol, glad it was over.

 

Recently started Nuka world. At first I thought: wow this is cool, then it did the usual Bethesda thing of PC the centre of the universe ?. Plus their shitty writing couldn't even make an alternative double cross scenario.

 

 

i agree survival is the best way to play, i just cannot play Beth survival mode.  it has to many bugs that need the console to fix and their survival mode

limits it.  so i play 1 difficulty level down from survival and use AN76 to make it survival, but with full console access to bug fix.

 

Automatron - yeah i saw that mod, but went with the one that prevents it from turning on at all  unless i specifically do something in game.

yeah being able to build robots is cool and all, but not really my thing, and other than that all it has for me (after playing it once) is a single NPC

to enslave or clone to get a unique settler.... nah i'll just pass on it.

 

do not know what adult mods you like or play with (if any),  but you might want to check out Commonwealth Slavers (dark to very dark storyline) which

is an alternate start mod that centers around Corvega and the Whore House (mod added), but can take you to a fair amount of places in the Commonwealth.

Nuka Ride (also an alternate start mod by JB who wrote Commonwealth Slavers) is mainly in Nuka World.  it is not as dark as CS, and has it's funny points.

both are very much adult mods though.  they are both story mods, and i find the writing quite good overall.

 

whether they will be a good fit for you or not is something only you can decide.  

 

[Joe_Oni]

I use a mod that removes power armor from various factions and a mod to require training to use PA.  Still end up with a shit ton  which I never use.

 

Added  a spawn mod which loaded a ton of enemy spawns which includes raiders in power armor  again 

 

modded the speed of the animals and added things like dogs grabbing the player so seeing a pack 10+ dogs running through the fog is a bit more exciting than vamilla....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NickNozownik]

I don't play on vanilla survival mode because it feels like I'm torturing my character with the mind numbing amount of food and water that she constantly needs. It's not challenging or interesting at all, it's very easy to get a mountain of supplies. It feels like it was made by someone who desperately tries to make it more difficult.

Vanilla difficulty sliders don't really matter to me because I use SCOURGE, SKK Dynamic Damage Manager and MAIM, combined with some other mod that makes only endurance raise my HP. Vanilla settings are basically "piss easy terminator mode" or "bullet sponge hell at the start and then piss easy terminator mode". On very hard without mods I ran around wearing normal clothes and no armor on, I leveled up so much that I became the ultimate bullet sponge.

 

Not being able to save normally or use the console is just fucking stupid. Fallout 4 is very stable but it can still crash, there's nothing fun or challenging in doing the same shit over and over again because the game shat itself. I wouldn't be able to finish the MQ without console commands and I had only a few mods installed. I couldn't start the dialogue with the stupid synth kid even though not a single mod changed the dialogue or NPCs.

 

I actually like Automatron because I use a mod that allows me to build robots if I have the Robotics Expert perk, I don't have to do any quests. Which is great because it was written by a 10 year old just like the rest of the game. I use SKK Random Encounter Manager and War of the Commonwealth mods, so a few goofy robots won't make any difference. Most modded guns are added to the Gunners, those wacky robots don't stand a chance if they spawn near pissed off Call of Duty fans.

Automatron enemies fucking suck, they're rarely worth looting. Vanilla robots, especially Assaultrons, are more dangerous and have better stuff on them.

 

That's just the tip of the iceberg. Or the tip of a garbage mountain. I have 486 mods installed so Fallout 4 is very fun to play, but without them pretty much everything sucks. Few other things that piss me off:

1. Using a scope feels like my character is riding a dildo on a boat. Who the fuck thought that it's a good idea?

2. Shotguns are useful only in point blank range because mUh BaLaNcE

3. Power armor breaks very easily, but a piece of leather strapped to my leg is indestructible

4. Hitscan bullets that completely disappear after reaching their max range

5. NPCs won't shut the fuck up, without mods I'm bombarded with dialogues written by some alien who doesn't know how humans behave

6. Legendary items are useful only because I have a mod that lets me scrap them, otherwise they're complete trash or so OP it makes the game way too easy. Even a modded gun with explosive or never ending effect feels just goofy and boring

7. Melee. Fuck melee. It's slightly improved vanilla Oblivion combat

Without mods it's a fucking trashpocalypse.

[M.BISON]

17 hours ago, valcon767 said:

Automatron - yeah i saw that mod, but went with the one that prevents it from turning on at all  unless i specifically do something in game.

yeah being able to build robots is cool and all, but not really my thing, and other than that all it has for me (after playing it once) is a single NPC

to enslave or clone to get a unique settler.... nah i'll just pass on it.

 

Pretty much what I did. Completed Automaton, moved the 2 robots to mechanist lair and never interacted with them or that area again lol. Also I found it really annoying/stupid how mechanist robots always attacked settlements! (after you start quest) They're just so uninteresting, and boring to fight (combat strip made it bearable ?). I just enabled god mode on settlement attacks with them, could not be asked with it.

 

17 hours ago, valcon767 said:

 

do not know what adult mods you like or play with (if any),  but you might want to check out Commonwealth Slavers (dark to very dark storyline) which

is an alternate start mod that centers around Corvega and the Whore House (mod added), but can take you to a fair amount of places in the Commonwealth.

Nuka Ride (also an alternate start mod by JB who wrote Commonwealth Slavers) is mainly in Nuka World.  it is not as dark as CS, and has it's funny points.

both are very much adult mods though.  they are both story mods, and i find the writing quite good overall.

 

Yeah I like the sound of CS looked interesting, I might give it a go on my next playthrough.

 

Overall I think this game is decent, but it had potential to be so much better! Bethesda and there shenanigans ?

 

Another thing I find stupid is the enemies that pop up from the ground! Particularly radscorpians! You can't even sneak around them, as they instantly "teleport" to your location, and it's like you can't get away from them. Traversing the glowing sea was so frustrating.  

Edited December 1, 2023 by M.BISON

[ElaboratePseudonym]

As already said, and also my opinion, the save system and console access in survival mode. The reasoning for the restriction seems to be an assumption by the developer that if the player faces a tiny bit of difficulty, the first reaction will be to cheat. Personally, I will cheat if I want to, but I always know when I am, and why. (It's not to "win".)

 

Second, the settlement/building system. I put quite a few hours into it in forming my opinion, not just "I don't like it". After I built a fully walled, gated Sanctuary complete with manned guard posts to then have raiders spawn inside the walls... Also scrapped all the metal in Sanctuary to erect a skyscraper atop the Red Rocket as high as the game would allow. After awhile both seemed kinda empty. For me, it's because first person 3D legos is too incongruent with the game atmosphere of a daily struggle for food, safety and sanity (modded) amidst the ruins of a civilization that destroyed itself by choice. I know many people really like the settlements. Good for them.

 

Last, I would have liked a much deeper exploration of the synth/ human boundary. What happens when technology can create an approximation of individual human consciousness? We can remember it for you wholesale.

Edited December 2, 2023 by ElaboratePseudonym
spelling

[valcon767]

On 12/2/2023 at 11:40 AM, ElaboratePseudonym said:

Second, the settlement/building system. I put quite a few hours into it in forming my opinion, not just "I don't like it". After I built a fully walled, gated Sanctuary complete with manned guard posts to then have raiders spawn inside the walls

 

Last, I would have liked a much deeper exploration of the synth/ human boundary. What happens when technology can create an approximation of individual human consciousness? We can remember it for you wholesale.

funny is i like "civ building" games so settlements is fun for me, but like you i hate seeing enemies spawn inside walled settlement.

 

oh how i agree with you here. they could have done so much more with the whole human/synth thing then they did, and i wish they had.

 

[oblivioner]

1. Lore Inconsistencies
2. Mob Teleporting
3. Weapon Availability
4. Charisma is too important.

Lore Inconsistency

• Everything looks like the bombs dropped in the last 20-30 years, not 200.
• The Institute:
  • handily made Kellogg immortal,
  • can copy living memories into Gen3 synths
  • can't cure cancer or make a synth body for the guy their entire Gen3 Synth program is based on, presumably having fully decoded his DNA.
  • Is implicated several times, and once is a quest point, that they were replacing people with synths. 
    • But when you go down there, it isn't ever mentioned other than the one lategame plot point with the mayor, nor are there records about it.
• Things that other games, or even the game itself, have established were either not present or barely present are presented as being omnipresent when the bombs fell:
  • "just launching" - Quantum, Fatman
  • didn't even exist - X01.  Which they retconned into being present because of how glaring it is in Fo4.
• Power Armor lore established in other games: T-51 being the best, T-60 being a cut down version of T-45 and X-01 being an Enclave creation that is the cheaper and easier to look after is just thrown out for a clear progression of 45 > 51 > 60 > X-01, and then having X01 just being *everywhere* based on level scaling and being in a locked vault in Nuka World.
  • Also that the FO4 ingame lore states that power armor is hard to make and maintain, but the sole survivor, with a few perks, can easily build and maintain an entire squadron's worth on their own.  More if you use the automation expansion settlement pieces to make automated factories.

Mob Teleporting

• I just want a nice settlement with an area for them to do things, and then an area for me to do things.  Their "daily activities" functionality shouldn't have to involve them being able to teleport randomly around the settlement whenever the cells load.  Particularly into areas that are inaccessible.
  • Also, that would solve the crashes when the game tries to assign humanoid tasks to the flipping dog(s) when approaching a settlement.
• Alternatively, once a bar is built its nice to know that they're all going to be at the bar, or deep in my part of the settlement hammering on/using my crafting tables.
• Or stealing power armor and leaving it everywhere.

Weapon Availability

• We get a very nice first tutorial dungeon, but why the deathclaw minigun/power armor giveaway.  It means that for the rest of the game the only reason you don't curbstomp everything is ammo and fusion core limitations.  Also that the lategame *expects* you to be using power armor and a heavy weapon as a result.
• Oh, you want to have a gritty and tough playthough, and you've thrown the armor and minigun into the sewers of concord so they "don't exist", too bad the very first thing you do for the brotherhood is get walked through a dungeon with an unkillable, infinite ammo NPC that ends with you having hundreds of rounds of laser ammo and too many laser guns to carry, so you're almost guaranteed to get a good RNG drop.  And he gives you a legendary laser rifle to boot.

Charisma.

• Want to be able to safely use grenades and other explosives alongside a companion in game?  You need a high charisma to avoid hitting them. 
• Want to not be blown up by said companion the second a fight starts and they have any sort of explosive on them?  Charisma.
• Want to be able to tell someone that their job is to run shit from one settlement to another one?  You need a sky-high charisma.
  • Or become a raider and get supply lines for free, because the hyperviolent junkies have, of course, figured out logistics.
    • Which tracks, TBH.
    • But it doesn't track that the farmers up at farm settlements haven't figured out how to do the same.
• Want to be able to let someone else build and run a store of any kind, on their own?  Straight to Charisma.
• Want to build your own crafting tables?  Oddly, Charisma.
• Want to get get more caps?  You'd think luck, given that the in-game videos say luck is responsible for that. But its Charisma.

[sen4mi]

All of these can be (and have been) good fuel for good mods.

 

(Those mods, of course, sometimes do not play well with each other.)

Edited December 6, 2023 by sen4mi

[ElaboratePseudonym]

2 hours ago, oblivioner said:

1. Lore Inconsistencies
2. Mob Teleporting
3. Weapon Availability
4. Charisma is too important.

Lore Inconsistency

• Everything looks like the bombs dropped in the last 20-30 years, not 200.
• The Institute:
  • handily made Kellogg immortal,
  • can copy living memories into Gen3 synths
  • can't cure cancer or make a synth body for the guy their entire Gen3 Synth program is based on, presumably having fully decoded his DNA.
  • Is implicated several times, and once is a quest point, that they were replacing people with synths. 
    • But when you go down there, it isn't ever mentioned other than the one lategame plot point with the mayor, nor are there records about it.
• Things that other games, or even the game itself, have established were either not present or barely present are presented as being omnipresent when the bombs fell:
  • "just launching" - Quantum, Fatman
  • didn't even exist - X01.  Which they retconned into being present because of how glaring it is in Fo4.
• Power Armor lore established in other games: T-51 being the best, T-60 being a cut down version of T-45 and X-01 being an Enclave creation that is the cheaper and easier to look after is just thrown out for a clear progression of 45 > 51 > 60 > X-01, and then having X01 just being *everywhere* based on level scaling and being in a locked vault in Nuka World.
  • Also that the FO4 ingame lore states that power armor is hard to make and maintain, but the sole survivor, with a few perks, can easily build and maintain an entire squadron's worth on their own.  More if you use the automation expansion settlement pieces to make automated factories.

Mob Teleporting

• I just want a nice settlement with an area for them to do things, and then an area for me to do things.  Their "daily activities" functionality shouldn't have to involve them being able to teleport randomly around the settlement whenever the cells load.  Particularly into areas that are inaccessible.
  • Also, that would solve the crashes when the game tries to assign humanoid tasks to the flipping dog(s) when approaching a settlement.
• Alternatively, once a bar is built its nice to know that they're all going to be at the bar, or deep in my part of the settlement hammering on/using my crafting tables.
• Or stealing power armor and leaving it everywhere.

Weapon Availability

• We get a very nice first tutorial dungeon, but why the deathclaw minigun/power armor giveaway.  It means that for the rest of the game the only reason you don't curbstomp everything is ammo and fusion core limitations.  Also that the lategame *expects* you to be using power armor and a heavy weapon as a result.
• Oh, you want to have a gritty and tough playthough, and you've thrown the armor and minigun into the sewers of concord so they "don't exist", too bad the very first thing you do for the brotherhood is get walked through a dungeon with an unkillable, infinite ammo NPC that ends with you having hundreds of rounds of laser ammo and too many laser guns to carry, so you're almost guaranteed to get a good RNG drop.  And he gives you a legendary laser rifle to boot.

Charisma.

• Want to be able to safely use grenades and other explosives alongside a companion in game?  You need a high charisma to avoid hitting them. 
• Want to not be blown up by said companion the second a fight starts and they have any sort of explosive on them?  Charisma.
• Want to be able to tell someone that their job is to run shit from one settlement to another one?  You need a sky-high charisma.
  • Or become a raider and get supply lines for free, because the hyperviolent junkies have, of course, figured out logistics.
    • Which tracks, TBH.
    • But it doesn't track that the farmers up at farm settlements haven't figured out how to do the same.
• Want to be able to let someone else build and run a store of any kind, on their own?  Straight to Charisma.
• Want to build your own crafting tables?  Oddly, Charisma.
• Want to get get more caps?  You'd think luck, given that the in-game videos say luck is responsible for that. But its Charisma.

While my opinions are somewhat different, your presentation is very organized and detailed. Well done.

[oblivioner]

2 hours ago, sen4mi said:

All of these can be (and have been) good fuel for good mods.

 

(Those mods, of course, sometimes do not play well with each other.)

Well, except the settler teleporting.  as I recall Kinggath apparently put a lot of effort into stopping that as part of his Sim Settlements series and its not possible.

 

Of course, now that he's turned to the dark side maybe he can get something done in that regard.

[pinky6225]

The power armor mechanics is kinda a tricky one for me, in fallout 1/2 it was a inventory item so you could put it on/take it off as you like and never lose it which from a game play perspective is great but you have to reconcile in your head how your managing to carry it

 

Fallout 3/4 it became an oversuit which looks cool and is much easier to belief in but its a pain if you ever want to do something outside your PA so either you end up wearing it constantly and everything becomes a frontal assault or you never use it and leave dozens of suits littered around the wastelands

[FauxFurry]

On 12/16/2023 at 9:10 AM, pinky6225 said:

The power armor mechanics is kinda a tricky one for me, in fallout 1/2 it was a inventory item so you could put it on/take it off as you like and never lose it which from a game play perspective is great but you have to reconcile in your head how your managing to carry it

 

Fallout 3/4 it became an oversuit which looks cool and is much easier to belief in but its a pain if you ever want to do something outside your PA so either you end up wearing it constantly and everything becomes a frontal assault or you never use it and leave dozens of suits littered around the wastelands

Power Armor only became a vehicle type in Fallout 4. In Fallout 3 and New Vegas, it was just an inventory item albeit one which required use of a reward perk (Power Armor Training) to use.