The Big Fallout 4 Thread

[Arthmoor]

No level cap doesn't bother me. I usually hit the things far too soon in games that have them.

 

I'm much more reassured to know that they learned people want to keep playing past the ending

[VaultDuke]

that did not come as a surprise, I was actually expecting that. there would have been a mod long before I finish the game, anyway

what bothers me about the lack of a level limit is that it implies we will, with perseverance, be able to get all perks (what else would we spend out points on?). That sounds to me like they once again do not care about balancing for and with different characters. we will again end up with some sort of jack of all trades. All that specialization and customization that makes out characters special, unique and ultimately ours will fade away, much like the memory of the lone wanderer always fades away after the end of each game....and I doubt that was what they had in mind when introducing that feature

[Korentin]

So don't play to such a high level that it is a concern?

[sonicadam132]

I haven't reached level 100 on skyrim, and yet I did everything in it, MQ, CW, small quests, etc

[Arthmoor]

I finished everything in Skyrim and all 3 DLCs and my main character only made it to level 62. So it's the exception to me normally hitting the level caps.

 

I suspect if things play out similarly in FO4 that as long as you aren't grinding skills outside your chosen build that you won't max out there either. Cause all removing the hard cap does is prevent you from hitting an artificial ceiling when you still have 40% of the game left to play.

[VaultDuke]

Yeah well. First time around i hit lvl 42 before making the travel to high rhothgar....

Also, slowing down with leveling is different in tes' skill based system than in fo's xp based one.

But sure if the game is designed for lvl < 100 with the max perk points/max lvl being somewhere close to 300, it will not make an actual difference. But in skyrim i could at least avoid legendary levels and just make the cut at 83

[Jon]

 
 
It appears more and more likely that Perks have absorbed Skills.   Aside from the partially decoded Perk Chart we already had which ties things like "Science!" to being a perk now.  It seemed pretty apparent that they were arranged in that chart based on how many points in each S.P.E.C.I.A.L stat you would need to access each perk.  (Each column is a S.P.E.C.I.A.L stat and each row is a point in that stat.)
 
Anyway, this video is our first explicit confirmation of this mechanism, which wouldn't seem like anything new, except the guy stated that if you put 10 into STR you can get the last Strength perk right off the bat.  If he's correct, this means perks probably no longer have a minimum level requirement like in FO3.  Also perks may not require multiple stats to be at a certain level since it's now just a chart/matrix, i.e. making a Perk in the STR column also require END would seem weird.
 
I think a lot of people will believe this to be the dumbing down of Fallout but I disagree.   At least comparing to Fallout 3, the only real point in increasing skills was to get them past a certain value (e.g. 25, 50, 75).  The points in between were almost entirely useless, e.g. for picking an Average lock there wasn't much (any?) difference in 50 Lockpick vs 100 Lockpick.   It also turned the game into a minigame of maximizing stat gain by getting INT to 10 as soon as possible and planning what perks to tag and what perks to take in order to get every skill to 100.  Including things like putting off reading skill books until you get the Comprehension perk, taking the Educated perk as soon as possible, and taking the Tag! perk.   So, many of your Perks are taken in order to play the numbers minigame of maximizing Skills.  As far as replayability, INT being a requirement to max each time you play (unless you are specifically roleplaying a low-INT character) makes new characters rather monotonous.  It's not even hard to max INT because STR/CHR are pretty much dump stats. 
 
I don't find this particularly fun because since the points are able to be maximized, I feel compelled to do so.  To the point where I make a spreadsheet with all the formulas just to track my progress.  True story.  
 
In fact, I think removing Skills as they existed in Fallout 3 has a few benefits.  Assuming that you can't get each S.P.E.C.I.A.L stat to 10 by endgame, it puts a lot more emphasis on what stats to choose at the start because:
 
1. The points you can allot at the start are only 28 (vs 40 in Fallout 3).
 
2. You can't get all the best perks for each every stat.  This is similar to FO3, where a few perks needed as much as 7 in a stat (but no Perk required 8-10 in a stat).  It's also unlike FO3, where some stats like Charisma were essentially worthless if you had Speech at 100.  Did it even make sense to allow Speech to 100 if you have CHR at 1?  I don't think so.   In Fallout 4, you essentially get this limitation.  We've already seen that "Science!" is a ranked perk, and judging from the decoded chart it appears to be rather far down, meaning a rather high INT requirement.  So, to max out your "Science skill" in FO4 you need to have high INT.   There are 21 perks (probably some with ranks) that require all stats to be 8-10.  The 7 perks that each require their respective stat to be 10 are probably "build-defining", and thus reward specialization. 
 
And again, unless you can get each stat to 10 by endgame, this also enhances replayability.  In FO3 it was too easy to max or nearly max all your skills, meaning your "build" pretty much ends up the same each time you play.  Wherein you are basically god-tier at everything you do.   Since you probably can't get all the best Perks on one character this makes it more rewarding to play again but choosing to max out different stats. 
 
I'm guessing that since you only get 28 points to start in FO4 that there will be significantly more permanent stat increases as quest rewards.
 

what bothers me about the lack of a level limit is that it implies we will, with perseverance, be able to get all perks (what else would we spend out points on?). That sounds to me like they once again do not care about balancing for and with different characters. we will again end up with some sort of jack of all trades. All that specialization and customization that makes out characters special, unique and ultimately ours will fade away, much like the memory of the lone wanderer always fades away after the end of each game....and I doubt that was what they had in mind when introducing that feature

 

See above.    They stated that many of the 70 base Perks have multiple ranks, but offhand I can't remember the number.  It was in the 200-300s.

[VaultDuke]

Arrrrgh, i'm at my girlfriend's now and here we have no cable net currently. Only mobile. I've been waiting for that gamescom video all week. Now i must wait to watch it.

Yeah merging perks and skills was pretty much what everyone expected. I think it's a good change. FO3 moved in 25% Steps for many skill checks, so the change doesn't effect the game play compared to skills at all

Edit: Yes it was mentioned that there are around 275 perk points to be spent. The only Limitation we know of now is Special points. You start with a limited number and it is unclear how much you can raise special stats. Depending on that (some assume it may be possible to gain more on lvl up by choosing the first row to spend your point), there will be some limitations to end game jack of all tradedness, exluding you from some high special perks. I do hope so

[InsanePlumber]

Fallout 5... press the button ..... YOU WON GAME!

[VaultDuke]

Fallout 5... press the button ..... YOU WON GAME!

I have admittedly a more positive view on the presented changes. I also didn't think the changes from skyrim compared to oblivion were a dumbing down. At least the dumbing down wasn't in the leveling system, but in the reduced feedback and requirements from and for quests.

[Jon]

There was some footage leaked from Gamescom, and someone snapped a still of the Perks tree.

 

 

So it looks like a large chart that you pan, and almost looks a bit like Fallout Shelter.  I wonder if there is any parallax effect to make it look 3D.  Apparently when you put a point in the Perk, the Vault Boy animates and stays animated.   The amount of ranks you have in a perk show up as stars. 

 

You can also see a "Requires:" so maybe there are more complex requirements for some perks despite each Perk being limited to a column for the relevant S.P.E.C.I.A.L stat.

[VaultDuke]

http://kotaku.com/thousands-of-people-have-watched-leaked-fallout-4-foota-1723429196

Bahahahahaa!

[Jon]

Bahahahahaa!

 

Yeah... The Gamescom footage on PornHub was the top link on the Fallout subreddit too.

 

In case anyone wants to avoid cancer from reading a Gawker Media site:

 

Titled ‘HIDDEN CAMERA SHOWS AUDIENCE TEASED BY BIG BUTT MAN IN TIGHTS LIVE,’ the seven-minute-long video showcases off-camera footage of Fallout 4. Hilariously, it’s tagged under categories like ‘big ass’ ‘POV’ and ‘homemade.’

[VaultDuke]

[Jon]

Our artists created 2x the game assets for Fallout 4 than Skyrim, get a taste in our art book. http://amzn.to/1Ek1sVt 

 

https://twitter.com/BethesdaStudios/status/636555265702297605

 

That last picture... AMAZING.  I can't tell if it's a maquette or if it's a really good render.  Well, that's the art book preordered...  I preordered the hardcover guide too though I'm a bit iffy on that.  Sometimes the Prima guides are really poorly designed.  Hope to see what the inside looks like before 11/10.

[Arthmoor]

Some news on mods etc: http://bethesda.net/?&utm_campaign=090915-F4SeasonPass#en/events/game/fallout-4-launch-and-beyond/2015/09/08/22

 

Of particular interest to some, it seems they've confirmed mods on PS4 too.

[August]

 

Thanks again to all of you! The support and excitement you’ve given Fallout 4 has blown us away. It’s energized us even more to do everything we can in these final months to make this our best game yet.

 

Speaking of which, has there ever been an educated guess as to the amount of time Bethsoft allowed for QA on Skyrim? And would this seem to have improved for Fallout 4?

 

I've read the USKP bug list/fixes and can't believe what was allowed to slip through; stuff that could only be explained by the developers being in a mad rush to complete it. I'd like to think an extra year in development will leave Fallout 4 a lot more polished, but sadly, I have trouble believing it. What do you think?

[Jon]

 

Love it!

[Arthmoor]

Speaking of which, has there ever been an educated guess as to the amount of time Bethsoft allowed for QA on Skyrim? And would this seem to have improved for Fallout 4?

 

I've read the USKP bug list/fixes and can't believe what was allowed to slip through; stuff that could only be explained by the developers being in a mad rush to complete it. I'd like to think an extra year in development will leave Fallout 4 a lot more polished, but sadly, I have trouble believing it. What do you think?

11/11/11 sabotaged Skyrim, that's pretty much it. The game needed another year in development for proper testing to be done. A lot of stuff we've fixed is literally just stupid errors that could have been fixed in 2 minutes time if they hadn't been gang rushed. You can even see this by how much vanilla content was left half finished or nearly done that ended up abandoned in the data files.

 

Fallout, thankfully, has no such "magic date" in the lore or anything. 11/11/11 has more significance (apparently) than just our own calendar. So hopefully the fact that it's been so long since BGS actually touched Fallout that we won't see a repeat of things.

[Mebantiza]

Im sure someone , somewhere, asked this, but will Fallout 4 be 64-bit or 32?

 

I saw in that release, them talking about how they added new content like 'Legendary mode'. In this dragonborns opinion, resetting skill trees broke skyrim's already lopsided balance even more that it was before they added that 'feature'. To each his own I guess, I would hope 'new' content', in fallout 4 does not continue to mean, 'well add things in that break the game even more than it already is'. Efforts here at AFK mods excepted of course....

[VaultDuke]

64 bit, because it's current gen. No official word on it. But current consoles have 8 GB RAM, so you need 64 bit to use that

They confirmed that there is no level cap and you can eventually get all perks. So i guess they still don't care too much about (endgame) balance.

[Arthmoor]

It's a single player game, the player has only themselves to blame for becoming too powerful for their own good

[Jon]

 

In case anyone hadn't caught this second installment yet.

 

Also there is a cute video out today showing some BTS with Dogmeat's model.  

 

Looks like they had a lot of fun capturing her performances.  I'm jealous of that job!

[Elgar]

Still waiting for the minimum requirements...

[VaultDuke]

now it's official Fallout dog > MGS5 dog!

 

Minimum requirements: XBox

in all seriousness: i plan to get a new Rig around the time the new creation kit hits. Not going to play a Bethesda game without an (un)official patch, and the hopefully well timed release of NVidia's 16nm Pascal GPUs seems like a good opportunity.

before that, i'll probably game with my roomate on PS4