WDeranged

I don't think the setting really helps or hurts the game, I quite like revolutionary war themes so Boston works for me. Also, The Minutemen aren't as outlandish as Caesar's Legion or The Kings, it's just that they're really, really fricking dull

Hell, you don't need to spill your guts. Apparently even though they just arrived and the BoS go everywhere in uniform with righteous attitudes, they have an amazingly effective spy network in the Commonwealth and know everything you do regardless of any surviving witnesses that push the plot line forward. Even though I used the Railroad to build a certain device and get into the Institute sneakily, the BoS knew all about it and that I'd come back. It's that kind of thing that nags at my mind. I remember Maxon telling me all about my experience at the Memory Den as if he were there himself. I had similar experience speaking to Garvey, I'd passed a certain point in the MQ and suddenly he knows everything I've been doing and talks as if we'd been planning to take down The Institute. Not long afterwards I'm handing in another BoS quest and my character suddenly requests that we share some crucial intel with the Minutemen, they agree cos I was the guy who originally gathered it so it's clearly my right to compromise their security Hopefully some clever bean will use the CK to adjust these trigger points and chop up the dialogue to give us a bit more freedom.

This is the sort of stuff that was grinding my gears, I tried to avoid telling the BoS for a while but when I went to hand in another quest my character just spilled his guts about the Institute's plan, no dialogue prompt.

I'm about to do a bit the old war crime for the BoS, those goddamn hippies won't know what hit them. She could be lying, I never liked her in Fallout 3 so I wouldn't put it past her. Oh yeah she's still a bitch but the BoS are all singing her praises too

Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things but why did they feel the need to retcon Dr Li into the mastermind behind Liberty Prime? She talks like he was her life's great work and then the BoS turned him into a weapon of war so she had to leave...a giant pre-war fricking robot that throws nukes got turned into a weapon of war?

Not necessarily, but I'll admit that was my first thought.

I enjoyed 3 far more but I was less critical back then so I dunno, maybe it's me? I think the combat and world design are excellent but the disjointed conversations are frustrating and major characters don't react in a believable way to events, very often they don't react at all It feels to me like Bethesda have abandoned internal consistency for the sake of epic ****, I know many people will say they've always been this way but I felt Skyrim was a step up and I had high hopes for Fallout 4. So that's probably my problem, dashed hopes. No doubt I'll come back to the game in a better mood next year, with my expectations suitably adjusted.

There is rain collision detection now, a clever modder could maybe use that to change how the radstorms work but it's anyone's guess until we get the construction kit. But the game doesn't even have skills. This quest uses intelligence and perk checks to get stuff done quicker. It's exactly how I hoped they'd preserve the use of skill checks, a perfectly acceptable system but so far it's the only example I've seen in 60 hours

Just because there are some fantastical elements doesn't mean you can throw away logic. My thoughts exactly. My point with that bet was that if you compare the original Fallouts to Bethesda's take, the original Fallouts were more or less logically sound and consistent with what you would expect of actual people in real life and their motives, the ONLY differing factor being "what if the 1950's perception of the future and sciences regarding radiation were true?" That specific aspect is where suspension of disbelief is requested from you, but basic human nature and societal structures? Those are more or less in tact and the games attempt to provide as realistic an imitation as possible of how real life societies and communities are formed and shaped. With Bethesda's take, it's just hardcore Sci-Fi with aliens, androids and all sorts of stuff that either makes no logical sense (why make synths?) or detracts from the motif of the series. (aliens do nothing to contribute to the theme of mankind's struggle with itself) My bet was more or less that the rockets on the USS Constitution would have ZERO explanation for why they're there and at best someone would say "some kooky whackjob scientist attached those years ago and no one knows what happened to him," and that that would be a telltale sign that Bethesda's writing style and interpretation of Fallout as a series absolutely hasn't changed. Were it to have an explanation that actually made some form of rational sense, then it'd be a sign they've improved. Anyways, it's no big deal since I'm familiar enough with the MAIN plot of the game to know that nothing's changed in that regard, so in the grand scope of things, this little sample with the USS Constitution is no longer relevant. It's just something I remembered today and I thought I'd ask if there's a good explanation for it or not. Not like the bet will actually be fulfilled or anything, it's just my natural curiousity that drove me to ask. If you want a real kick in the nuts, the USS Constitution quest is the only one I've encountered with actual skill checks

One more short ramble before I go to bed. It relates to Piper's synth obsession and contains spoilers so I'll tag it. Yeah, shadows are a huge hog. You can probably get away with higher than medium though, I set mine to 7000 in the .ini file, medium is 3000 and high is 14000.

I've just had a thought, I think I can express what's bugging me. *here be spoilers* I'm the General of The Minutemen, I've been announced as the next leader of The Institute, I've single handedly conquered half the Commonwealth for the BoS and half built Liberty Prime yet at no point has anyone said that maybe I shouldn't be doing all these things. I'm just floating around triggering plot events without repercussions. If anything I feel like an agent of chaos, backing all sides and priming them for an (apparently) inevitable war Good point, he might not.

At this point I wouldn't put it past them...but I don't think so. I just wish they'd let us totally disable the whole shoddily written mess that is romance

I've gleaned that much. I wish I could better articulate the feeling but it seems I'm not getting all the details I need before I nail my colours to a mast. I'm just kind of drifting around doing quests for whoever while I figure out what's going on, which isn't so bad but it feels like I'm helping everyone far too much Yeah I was taken aback by that, they should have made the wedding ring into an item that disables flirting. It's the launcher clearing the mod list, open your mod manager and enable everything while the launcher is open and then start the game.

50 hours and I still can't decide which faction to support, their goals are all really badly communicated compared to New Vegas or even Skyrim's civil war.

Unless you do a stealth kill, so the baby jesus can't witness it.

Took too long to make and sucked a bit too much, basically. *edit* Looks like he's getting more of my money either way

I'm finding that vodka is a great tool to assist with the enjoyment of this game, numb those neurons, it's like modding for your brain

Ha, my feelings exactly. I'll hang back and pay for this the old fashioned way if it turns out well.

I've got a similar madhouse in Sanctuary, a bunch of crazy schizoids all muttering to themselves.

not this myth again I'd say it's semi-mythical, the New Vegas map does funnel you at the start and there are invisible walls in places Bethesda would never put them.

My enthusiasm is waning pretty badly too, dunno if it's just my mood (probably) or the hassle I went through on release but I'm finding it hard to give a crap. All I know is that when Skyrim was released I played for about 180 hours and loved it, I'm 40 hours into Fallout 4 and wondering how I'll find the time to actually do anything. I'm thinking I'll just plough my way to the end and come back to it next year. I feel like Skyrim was better at being a TES game than Fallout 4 is at being a Fallout game

I was on the verge of finding The Institute when I realised the game seriously expected me to find scrap to build the plot macguffin first, pacing Bethesda!

I've found the stilted dialogue and the general lack of skill checks to be the most galling issues. As Longknife said this does feel like the death knell for the Fallout that we knew...but if I were to be less reactionary I'd say that the gameplay and world design is fiendishly fun, it might even be their best yet. It is a good game but it's not quite Fallout In other news I fought my way up a skyscraper and leapt joyfully from the roof while wearing power armor, ****ing hell yeah

Bah, by the time I properly play Fallout 4 you guys will have gotten the contract and released the spin off