Power Armors labeled wrong in my book.

[Koko.Hekmatyar]

Ever notice how the T-45 (first PA ever made) and the T-60 (last PA made prior to the war) look similar yet the T-51 (the middle unit) looks NOTHING like them? The helmet looks different and the rounded shoulders bleh, I seriously think they were named wrong and the now T-45 was supposed to be the T-51 look because to be honest the T-45 model looks more advanced then the T-51 model.

 

Left to right. T-60 T-51 T-45

 

[leatherliz]

T-51 was the power armor from FO1&2, which were top-down isometric games (I think that's the right term, anyway). It was supposed to be the best power armor produced before the war.

 

X-01 is based around the Advanced Power Armor from the pre-FO3 games and was developed by the Enclave post-war.

 

FO3 added T-45 as the first successful model of power armor (and the most common in-game, with only a couple sets of T-51 to be found depending on your DLCs).

 

FO4 adds T-60, stylized after the T-45 (bethesda designed) and was probably added just to keep fresh designs going into the franchise (especially with the updated power armor mechanics) and to make the most common power armor a contemporary (bethesda) design.

 

My head-canon rationale for the designs is this:

T-45 was the first practical/operational design of power armor. It canonically has some design flaws, most notably it was restrictive of the users movement and used power cells which drained quickly.

 

T-51 was the stopgap successor to T-45 (headcanon). The major drawbacks of the T-45 were overcome and the design simplified for as rapid production as possible (notably the shape of the pauldrons and chest plate, simple hex-head bolts, and exposed leather fittings). A war was on and as many units as could be churned out were needed at the front.

As a real life example of this, look to WW2 US tanks, inferior in many ways to German/Russian tanks but could be mass produced in overwhelming numbers.

 

T-60 took the lessons learned and improvements made from the T-45 and T-51 and combined them into a superior, but more complex (resembling the T-45), design that saw limited production and really only saw service on the home front in the final days before the nuclear apocalypse (pure, unadulterated headcanon).

 

X-01 basically follows from the canon script.

[Koko.Hekmatyar]

That's actually pretty well thought out and I never considered the idea that the design was intentionally simplified for mass production.

 

P.s. Speaking of the X-01. I have that as well but it's out of frame in the left corner.

[Caffeine Addict]

Yeah, I imagined the T-51 to be a version that fixed some of the technical difficulties from the T-45, but was less well designed otherwise to be mass produced for the front lines to stop enemy advances with sheer numbers while the T-60 was in developement, combining the better tech from the 51 with the better armor design from the 45.

 

I found several T-45s, but so far only 2 incomplete T-51s (luckily I could complete one with parts from the other). In my headcanon the 51s are harder to find because they were mostly deployed outside the mainland. And the T-60 wasn't in full production yet.

 

 

[AlericoftheNords]

Well the canon (in-game) seems pretty set in stone, that T-60 is the best because it was produced during the war.  Yet, while that maybe settled lore wise, it does pose a few problems.

 

The -problem- with that is just how many T-60s there seem to be - enough that the Brotherhood of Steel can employ T-60s for what appears to be the entirety of its armored infantry.  Mind you, the Brotherhood of Steel is not a small entity - it controls most of the southern half of the USA.   

 

Yet, the game says the T-60 only entered production during the closing phases of the Great War, when production was already strained and slowing.  So unless mass-production of the T-60 was swift, in vast numbers, and constant during that tiny window before the bombs fell, I really don't see how it is far and away the most common suit of armor when power armor was already a rare item to begin with.  How were factory lines re-tooled for this shift in production so quickly?  How were the already strained factories suddenly mass producing a new high-tech armor in such large quantities?  Why wasn't the armor being shipped out the front lines instead if being left in such large quantities inside of the continental US?   

Le sigh.

[Silver Wolf]

Lore-wise, I have a theory: T-45 is made from riveted steel, which is very easy to produce and repair. T-51 is still the most advanced pre-war power armor, featured back-mounted Microfusion Pack, HiFlo hydraulic systems, doesn't need under-armor and the most important: it used poly-laminate composite material which made it lightweight and has execllent defense capability.

 

However, it has one flaw: poly-laminate composite material is hard to repair and hard to manufacture since the world is in a middle of a Petroleum crisis, we can see that even domestic equipments are rarely made of plastic,  even dishes and trays are made of metal, stimpaks are made of glass and covered in steel tube for reuse. So this is where the T-60 step in: it has all the next-gen upgrade the T-51 had combined with the cheap and easy to manufacture material of the T-45. Because of riveted steel is far inferior compared to the advanced poly-laminate composite, it had to be much bulkier to offer (at least) the same amount of protection. In short, the T-60 is actually T-45-II.

 

Acording to wiki, T-60 was deployed in early 2077 (after Operation Anchorage) which makes sense since the US sure lost a lot of T-51 suits after the operation. However the loading screens suggest that T-60 was first seen during the Operation, those suits might be the prototypes of later T-60 models.

 

The Brotherhood of Steel T-60 might be the ones inside the Armory which the Outcasts opened with the help of the Lone Wonderer in FO3, and if you don't know, Maxson reunified the BoS and the Outcast in 2283 ~ 2284.

 

 

[Omni]

This has been bothering me so much. The reason behind it is pretty clear: Bethesda wanted the most widely used version to be of their design. However, I personally feel adding the T-60 in as supposedly after the T-51 and before the bombs fell just doesn't make sense, especially when it looks like the T-45. Power armor already inherently involves some very exotic materials to give it the properties it is known for, such as essentially 100% radiation resistance even down to the visor and being basically impervious to any firearm smaller than a rifle. Add that to the fact that the T-45 seems to have been more of a prototype while the T-51 was for mass production and it becomes even more awkward.

 

...and don't get me started on how one of the biggest differences between the T-45 and the T-51 was that the T-51 didn't need to have its power source replaced constantly (which had prevented wide-spread use of the T-45), yet all power armor in Fallout 4 needs its power source replaced all the time. The power source in a T-51 suit (or later) is supposed to last something like 1000 years, why do I need to replace it every ten minutes? (I know it's for gameplay reasons, but it still feels wrong.)

 

At least Bethesda DID put the T-51 in the game. At some point, we need a mod that makes the T-51 better than the T-60. (And maybe renames the T-60 to something like the "T-48".)

[Silver Wolf]

something with higher tech isn't always better. For example, just look at the M16 and AK-47....

[AlericoftheNords]

This has been bothering me so much. The reason behind it is pretty clear: Bethesda wanted the most widely used version to be of their design. However, I personally feel adding the T-60 in as supposedly after the T-51 and before the bombs fell just doesn't make sense, especially when it looks like the T-45. Power armor already inherently involves some very exotic materials to give it the properties it is known for, such as essentially 100% radiation resistance even down to the visor and being basically impervious to any firearm smaller than a rifle. Add that to the fact that the T-45 seems to have been more of a prototype while the T-51 was for mass production and it becomes even more awkward.

 

...and don't get me started on how one of the biggest differences between the T-45 and the T-51 was that the T-51 didn't need to have its power source replaced constantly (which had prevented wide-spread use of the T-45), yet all power armor in Fallout 4 needs its power source replaced all the time. The power source in a T-51 suit (or later) is supposed to last something like 1000 years, why do I need to replace it every ten minutes? (I know it's for gameplay reasons, but it still feels wrong.)

 

At least Bethesda DID put the T-51 in the game. At some point, we need a mod that makes the T-51 better than the T-60. (And maybe renames the T-60 to something like the "T-48".)

 

OMG I totally forgot about that.  O_O

 

You're right, that how they explained for Power Armor being able to be used so many years after the bombs.

[Idocrase]

I really like much of the FO4 power armor mechanic - it makes sense in a real world sense (Look at our own current power armor type designs - exoskeletal frames with power packs that drain in minutes, strap a set of plate armor to them and you'll have a t-45), it requires you to think out how you plan to use the stuff, and you can modify it for mission specific roles, swapping out lead lining for going to the Glowing Sea, or Winterizing it for going up against gunners or institute. 

 

What I DISlike are: Power cores should be MUCH rarer. To prove it to myself on my second playthrough I've been wearing power armor since level 1 - now at level 26 and am holding steady with an average of 33, 100% cores. 

This could be balanced by having the fusion generators you sometimes find cores plugged into actually being charging systems for cores. You might only find 3 cores in the entire game, but you can recharge them (slowly), using the generators.

 

Armor frames should be much rarer too, and require maintenance as well using semi-rare parts. Lets face it, our technology has us at the stage of developing those very frames, and they are fantastically complex pieces of kit. Semi rare or hard to make parts (Hydraulic piston requires you to find those buldozer/forklift machines, OR, machined shafts, clean oil, sealed bearings, rubber gaskets to make 1 piston, and maybe a Rubber Gasket needs to use 3 Old Shoes, sealed bearings need you to strip apart roller skates, machined shafts could come from weapons etc). Power armor should be a rare, hard to maintain, hassle to use piece of kit that lends you an INSANE advantage in combat, but only until it breaks, and then it becomes a liability. Much like owning a Tank would be. 

 

 

 

 

My head-canon rationale for the designs is this:

T-45 was the first practical/operational design of power armor. It canonically has some design flaws, most notably it was restrictive of the users movement and used power cells which drained quickly.

 

T-51 was the stopgap successor to T-45 (headcanon). The major drawbacks of the T-45 were overcome and the design simplified for as rapid production as possible (notably the shape of the pauldrons and chest plate, simple hex-head bolts, and exposed leather fittings). A war was on and as many units as could be churned out were needed at the front.

As a real life example of this, look to WW2 US tanks, inferior in many ways to German/Russian tanks but could be mass produced in overwhelming numbers.

 

T-60 took the lessons learned and improvements made from the T-45 and T-51 and combined them into a superior, but more complex (resembling the T-45), design that saw limited production and really only saw service on the home front in the final days before the nuclear apocalypse (pure, unadulterated headcanon).

 

X-01 basically follows from the canon script.

 

This is essentially my own head-canon as regards the PA.

 

Unfortunately the canon of power cores between FO3 and FO4 cannot be reconciled. FO4 is a step in the right direction, PA should be much rarer and harder to keep running. But I am hoping for a mod, or might make one myself, to make PA much more complex and expensive.