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The problem with minigames is that it ruins the character skill as someone can jump skimp on that skill and have fast reflexes. So that skill becomes useless. Try playing dungeon lords with a thief type character. It is pointless as a mage with fancy lockpicks, a small amount of skill, and reflexes can open things just as easily as a master thief. Add in a time delay spell and their is really no need to advance your thief skills at all.

I think it all comes back to the debate about whether or not Fallout 3 should be more real-time or more turn-based. Real-time people like mini-games, turn-based people like to just simply apply their skill. But why can't we just have both, like in Oblivion? In Oblivion, if you wanted to pick locks yourself, you could do so. But, if you wanted to just apply your skill to it, you could also do that.

In the context of the computers, I think you could easily find a balance of having most computers in the game world being "skill-specific" and only accessible through your computer knowledge, but also having a limited set of other computers in the game world which are more puzzle/riddle oriented wherein it is the player's "metaknowledge" that solves the puzzle.

I agree that the overuse of "metaknowledge" can undermine the skill system, however I would put forward the idea that sometimes (not always) it is better to use the "metaknowledge" instead of a character skill, mainly as a means of making the interactions with computers, or lockpicking, or whatever more interesting in general, and to prevent the interaction from becoming cumbersome and tedious.

I can think of numerous examples of mini-games and puzzles/riddles that I have enjoyed in just about every RPG ever made, and I think something would be lost if these were done away with. I can also think of numerous examples of games that have come out where the entire use of a specific skill (for example computers) was tedious and boring because it wasn't fleshed out very well and didn't allow for enough creative thought on the player's part. In these instances, interactions with things like computers and locks can become nothing more than obnoxious barriers towards accessing the rest of the game's content. IMO, it's more of an issue of finding the appropriate balance between mini-games and skill use, rather than just one or the other.

I like the idea of the visual minigame where you get info by looking under the hood. But I think the repair skill shoudl focus on getting the stuff to repair things with not just clicking the mouse quickly. Having a bag full of various tech parts would be cool. Having various tools would be cool.

The tools and "tech parts" are a good idea, especially if some of them would be tied in w/ your skill level. IE, you might find some sort of car part or computer part, but only be able to "identify" it or use it if your repair and/or computer skill is high enough. You could also expand this concept to include various weapons, or basically any other item in the game, depending on the item/weapon.

The trade-off here is that the more "skill-specific" the items are, the less of the game you get to experience because you won't be able to use certain items unless you play as a certain type of character. Additionally, the developers would have to be careful not to make things like a screwdriver or knife "skill-specific", as the use of these items would seem to be common knowledge for just about any type of character.

However, if it was implemented correctly, and especially if it is a "party-based" game (ie at least 1 NPC henchman, so that if the player character doesn't have a certain skill maybe the NPC would still be able to use the item), I think most players would find something like this enjoyable and rewarding, as it would reward the player for playing as different types of characters. Additionally, this type of thing would add to the game's replay value, so that you might be more inclined to replay the game as a different character type in order to use items that you weren't able to use the first time around.

I would also like to reiterate my previously stated idea that a motorcycle would be a much more practical, interesting vehicle to add into the game than a car or truck, with the exception that it doesn't really allow for more than 1 extra passenger (assuming the game is "party-based"), unless you have a sidecar. It seems to me that in a post-apocalyptic world a motorcycle would be much more useful than a car; it would be less conspicuous, easier to hide, easier to navigate past difficult obstacles (such as past abandoned cars or potholes or down narrow alleyways), easier to hop on/off of, etc. Plus, given the fact that the developers are using the Oblivion graphics engine for the game, it's not much of a stretch (graphically speaking) to make the leap from horses to bicycles/motorcycles. I guess it just seems like a natural choice to me. And while we're at it, let's make it a chopper, not a fatboy.

I think since two people vote for motorcycle in separate threads, I'm optimistic for those. I don't see how having a motorcycle automatically limits the party to just the protagonist. I can't imagine a F2 protagonist with a full Charisma and Perk loaded pack of followers fitting in the Highwayman either. Even without a full pack, I think just getting in Marcus, or Vic, or Skynet alone would be tricky. (There was a reason why they cut scenes to get Uncle Jesse into the General Lee.) But it happens anyway for videogame magic and leap of faith in the game. So, why not have several motorcycles available? Why not utilize another type of mechanical construction? The roving HQ was a good idea. How about something that's sentient, robotic, bionic, or otherwise? Perhaps there's now a mutated horse breed out there. It would be great to have an additional video scene once "whatever-it-is" gets discovered and finally enabled for transport. There could maybe be transport tech that needs to be solved to get to the endgame location aboard some kind of mothercraft in orbit.

First point - Duel Wielding!

Now that's out of the way... So far the fallout series has been mostly focused on 'city states', independent communities. It would be interesting to have different organization competing for controller, and the play could chose the organization they want to support, confederations, empires, tribal, etc. This would mean that there's a permanent change to the world, beyond the scope of the playable area impacted by the players choice.

Not to mention it's a fun way to impact political bias.

I like the other idea of going beyond California. It could be anywhere. I love, actually, that one could choose to be the Chosen One and be any race from any country. I was thinking an ideal entryway/climax could involve either: 1) orbital platform; 2) biodome. Some place that initially wanted a managerie of all aspects of human life in an idealized yet homogenized, self-sustained environment gone horribly wrong. Maybe it was like the leftover of some crazy ultra-villain's dream for an Utopia a la Bond. Maybe you can get that ol' Shuttle to work again that's parked in San Francisco. Or, actually being able to start in any part of the globe. Maybe underwater. The vault idea can be anywhere.

+1

I'd like the action to take place in another country. In Fallout, the whole world has been affected by The Great War. I'd like to know what happened to the rest of the world; how did European, Asian, African survivors handle the crisis ? Did they build any vaults ?

I think russia would be a great place for the game as I connect nuclear explosions to Asia-Russia. The wastelands in the game look alsmost as the uninhabited areas in Russia.
I think extending is a good idea for example enrgy weapons -plasma
-laser amd etc.
this includes making more types of weapons
and last but not least I think the game is to short I mean they should make more goals and etc.

The different races would allow different Perk choices, that'd be awesome because stereotypes kick ass Should take place in europe with the random terrain to make better use of Survival when you are cruising from hellhole to hellhole.. Gotta bring slavery back though, actually making it useful and more common across the map, not just in one starting community :\ Oh, and like 100 more perks to choose from, cuz if I can go to level 50 or so I'd rather take more stuff I want rather than junk.

A need for ESP

I was wondering if the game could include a perk / skill for Extra Sensory Perception? During the cold war, USA, Russia as well as England has some experiments concerning this. This can open up a whole new field for exploration. i.e. psychokinesis, telephathy, clairvoence or remote viewing etc... There are some discussions also about humans developing these attributes eventually as a natural path of evolution, thus a nuclear fallout could jump start this. Fallout already have ghost and zombies in various instances, why not expand on it and include werewolfs, vampires etc... it will appeal to a whole new audience

The discussion on item identification is also interesting which is sort of like the "lore" attribute on other RPG games. But different items may require different types of "lore" i.e. electronics components require high "computer" skill to identify, unique swords / melee weapons require high "melee" skill to identify and so on...

Zantheus wrote:I was wondering if the game could include a perk / skill for Extra Sensory Perception? During the cold war, USA, Russia as well as England has some experiments concerning this. This can open up a whole new field for exploration. i.e. psychokinesis, telephathy, clairvoence or remote viewing etc... There are some discussions also about humans developing these attributes eventually as a natural path of evolution, thus a nuclear fallout could jump start this. Fallout already have ghost and zombies in various instances, why not expand on it and include werewolfs, vampires etc... it will appeal to a whole new audience

Zombies?
I know 1 ghost from Fallout 1, 2 and Tactics, but no zombies.
Probably you have mistaken ghouls to zombies, which are totally different things.

And, IMO, werewolves, vampires and such doesn't fit too well to the world of Fallout, so I would rather leave them to games better suited for them...

The discussion on item identification is also interesting which is sort of like the "lore" attribute on other RPG games. But different items may require different types of "lore" i.e. electronics components require high "computer" skill to identify, unique swords / melee weapons require high "melee" skill to identify and so on...

There is lots of potential in that idea...

Though, especially with melee weapons, that would mean that the system is rather useless as there isn't that kind of weapons as you can find from D&D games (Sword +1, Dagger +3 etc...). In terms of guns and especially energy weapons the idea would be very good, especially if you are restricted to be able to use only those weapons you have identified... which would mean you have at least basic knowledge of how to use that weapon (how to reload and so on...).

Ironically I started playing Fallout because from what my friend described about it, it sounded like Rifts RPG.. They delved into the psionic energy stuff with the Master from the original Fallout and the fact you had to wear those psychic inhibitors or take the Mental Block feat or you'd take damage. Would be awesome to see some minor psychic stuff, even just to make use of those one or two remaining APs you can't make use of in a turn.

As far as vampires (in Rifts), those were described as something to do with a supernatural alien intelligence. Theres already aliens in Fallout, It's all in how they introduce and explain the creatures. But I would like to see more things that are immune to some stuff but weak to others, but agreeably werewolves and vampires seem out of place.

Who likes bacon?

it would be cool if u can start ur own city with a GECK. At least just one! and i know how theyre trying to make few but important NPCs but who cares...

I didn't like Oblivion's use of minigames, in the end I just auto skilled everything I could. Talking to boost moods was just strange in the end, if I work out what a person liked and hated, I'd logically stop doing the things he hated and do only the things he liked. In the end trying to boost speech was extremely tedious, worse almost necessary.

Thankfully fallout's skill system is very much different to Oblivions gain per use system.

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I don't think minigames are necessary for Fallout if it's going to be using action points. I say this because I imagine locking picking, healing or some other such in the midst of battle. I'd like things a little more frantic in a gunfight, especially in a first person view. When talking about guns and such I think Deus Ex's approach would be much better then Oblivion's.

There were times where it was critcal to pick a lock to escape an area in the midst of battle and either stopping the game or stopping a person from lockpicking is much worse.

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If there had to be minigames I'd like to suggest a system for medical healing, something similar to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Basically MGS's heal system involves going into a menu where it shows the protagonist's body with xray view and wounds. From here the game provides a description of wounds and what is required to cure it.

A poisoned bolt from a crossbow required:
A knife to remove the bolt
Antivenom to cure the poisoning
Styptic to stop bleeding
Disinfectant to stop infection
Stitches to close the wound
Bandages to finish

Now what happens is the health bar (normally white) has a red chunk displayed on to show how bad a wound is. Normally the bar will automatically heal to a certain point but red is a part that won't heal for a very long time. The more required healing supplies used the more the red part of the bar is reduced, if all the required elements are met then the red part of the bar is completely gone.

This 5 minute video demonstrates best.
YouTube - Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Healing

It's a pretty fun system and quite fast, but I would adapt it for use with Fallout. The requirement would be to have doctor kits and medi kits and each kit contains better supplies (more of them too).

Now going into doctor would bring up a similar menu with a view of the protagonist and wounds. Now with a low doctor skill basicall it'll show the location of wounds but little else, high skill levels reveals the type of injury and further levels start indicating what is required to heal wounds. Curing injuries at high levels has chances of reducing or curing local injuries too.

Now risk is blowing the wrong materials on wounds (like trying to use antivenom on a broken arm), so it may be possible to guess one's way through things but ultimately costly.

Another possible problem is pattern memorisation, but logically a person would know how to do a basic healing after a while. Also high skill levels would result in more health healed anyway.


Finally I'd like to suggest Macguyver Perk! For use with repair, doctor and anything else applicable. Macguyver allows a character to substitute items or use less of an item to complete an effect. Having two ranks of Macguyver (max) means that some items require NO ITEMS to complete an effect.

Well i think you should enter the "perk contest" with your macguyver idea. But you have to find a new name for it, 'cause there was no Macguyver show in the 50's.