Quakecon 2015: Fallout 4 details

Actually, lets look at the stuff.
In Vault 3 you're supposed to look for a reverse pulse cleaner. Where is it? In the maintenance wing. Makes sense, doesn't it?
In Vault 22 you're supposed to look for HEPA cartridge filters, which are on 2nd Level - Oxygen Recycling, again, makes sense.
In Vault 11 you look for a differential pressure controller, but this time it's more tricky, as it's in a flooded section of the vault in the lower level. The fact that it's a pressure controller kinda, sorta, in a way could make you think of deep underwater, but only a genius or a very creative person would figure it out I'm afraid.

So it's not quite that random, it has some logic to it, though the last one could be hidden in a better place.

 

Hmm.. Yeah, makes sense.

And the Vault 34 quest (Caesar needing an autodoc repair I think?) is in the clinic area.

 

Hey guys, they have confirmed Fallout 4 has no Level cap, also it just keeps playing after the main quest is over.....

So those who were defending the new Skill system saying that it wouldn't allow you to pick all perks and make you focus more..... Hahahaha, nope, no Level cap, get all Maxed out, do fetch quests forever. I am even gonna bet the "Join different factions" tagline also means "Join them all at the same time".

 

And become the guild master of them all after 4-5 quests! I always wanted to rule the BoS as the arch wizard, Bethesda makes dream come true!

 

100 hours in the sole survivor of Vault 111 will be the arch-wizard of the Brotherhood of Steel, the Provost of the Institute, the hour-man of the minutemen, the master of the super mutants, and the alpha deathclaw.

But some schlub will still ask you to fetch them a nuka cola from the other end of the map for as long as you want.

 

Of course, we could be optimistic and presume that continuing the game after the main quest ends would allow us to experience the consequences of our actions, with the world being radically different dependent on the choices we made throughout the main quest.

Yeah, I don't believe it either.

Don't forget President of the Enclave (I bet they'll be coming back) and chief of all raiders who ordered all the raiders to attack him all the same just because he's a giant asshole who wants to have something to shoot at all the time. And the guy who looks at random houses to make them disappear so that he can build his minecraftian settlements on their foundation.

There will also likely be one faction like the Thieves Guild in Skyrim which never actually sent you to steal anything.

And the fact that you're likely to be an android!

Bethesda is definitely getting all the awards for "most epic non-railroaded non-linear gameplay EVAR".

 

So remember when people were telling us not to expect Skyrim with guns?

We're getting Skyrim with guns.

"You have slain the Mighty Muto-Dragon and saved the world of Boston, what are you going to do now?"

"Well, I'm gonna squat in this ditch I filled with broke, useless toys and drink some toilet water"

 

Who needs to think about Balance when you can jsut let OCD fuckers level up forever? And the Bethdrones are already celebrating.... Fuck, the just can't stop molesting the Fallout corpse.... this is so depressing....

in B4 the inevitable "I don't see why it's bad to remove level cap, skills and multiple endings from fallout" comments come....

 

For the sort of theme park experience that Bethesda likes to make, removing the level cap is appropriate. Not because you will want to play the game forever doing procedurally generated quests, but because you will often run out of XP before you run out of things you like to do.

Like in NV I regularly hit the cap before I run out of narrative stuff to do (there is SO MUCH XP in the DLC), so I generally take the skilled trait just to make leveling slower (hey, it's the only trait with two positives). Having advancement not stop at an arbitrary points isn't unreasonable in an RPG.

I think "you can play after the end of the game" is pretty silly though. Like once you've resolved the main conflict, what's the point of keeping on playing? If you're afraid you've missed stuff, just do that stuff before you do the last quest.

 

Flying Deathclaws confirmed!

 

Would you considered having sequences as in witcher's 3 Priscilla song/drinking party in f4 an improvement in bsg storytelling?

 

Well, the problem with Bethesda removing the level cap is basically the same problem with there being no level cap in Skyrim.

It fucks with balance and makes character development less meaningful.

Especially since the rumor is that when you level up, you either spend the point on a perk or to boost your SPECIAL stats.

Every character eventually ends up the same.

 

The current thinking is you can raise each SPECIAL by one, same as Gain X in Fallout 2. Which is like the top row of perk chart. And makes you a moron if you put 10 in a stat at the start.

 

The big difference being that there's no limit on how many times you can take the perk (aside from the cap of 10).

Fuck, Bethesda, why do you even have a cap on SPECIAL?

LET US MAKE A CHARACTER WITH 20 IN EVERYTHING.

 

Bethesda's solution to imbalance? Get rid of it, no balance at all either way.
Some skills need some work to make them worthwhile in the new system? Get rid of all the skills.
Perks feel kind of underwhelming in 3 because of how generic all of the are? Now you can just have all of them.
Too little endings in 3? Have no endings, the game is just an endless grind.

 

What I love is the moronic answer, balance! It is a single player game! It doesnt need balance.

 

I saw someone on the Bethesda forums say that if we don't want to become too powerful then simply stop increasing anything. Basically, it's up to the players to balance the game rather than the developers. If getting more perks than 40 becomes OP then we have to self-limit ourselves and not spend any more perk points. Personally I think that limiting yourself should be an option, not something you feel forced to do. I refused to loot people I didn't personally kill on one character in FNV for example because that character had respect for the dead but not respect for those trying to murder him. That's how self-limitation should work, to be an option, not a requirement for balance.

I see this kind of argumentation from bethfans constantly on their forums. It's not up to the developers of an RPG to create balance, it's up to the players to create it for themselves because other players might want to get overpowered. It comes across to me as if they feel entitled to have whatever they want to in a Bethesda game. It's like the gamers are like whiny toddlers and Bethesda are the parents and whenever a toddler goes "BUT I WANT IT!!!" Bethesda just hands it to them rather than discipline them for their bad behaviour.

That's kind of a harsh analogy but judging by what I've seen from Bethfans' arguments that's the view I've come to hold of them.

 

Well that is one problem, but what I mean is for example the skills in Skyrim. Certain skills - like the magic system as whole ... are compared to melee totally inbalanced. It is a lot easier to level up your melee skills and you will have a much easier time beating the content. And archery seems to be even easier.

 

There are other solutions to prevent "every character ends up the same" than level caps. You could, for example, have a vast surplus of perks, you could have pairs of perks that are either or, or you could make skills past 100 available for a premium (say 5 regular skill points.) That every Fo4 character will end up the same is a consequence of other design decisions and no level caps, not merely no level caps.

 

But a level cap is a very important element to encourage planning ahead or even just being careful while choosing what to level up. A No level cap system just makes every level completely irrelevant, doesn't matter what you pick, you can jus have all of the, no matter how many generic perks you inundate the player with.