Fallout: New Vegas Ask a Dev

[Batcha]

I dont understand the need for more and more "realistic" games..
i mean, in terms of keeping your stomach filled or drinking water not to dehydrate.

Whats next? You'll have to stop by the toilet every now and then to take a pooh?

It has nothing to do with keeping the game convincing imo, it mostly ends up as "a whole lot of stuff you can do, but you dont feel like doing it".

The most surreal game idea can be convincing if it is designed and presented well. They should stick with the storyline, world, characters, music and it will suck the player in..

 

[Santoka]

FO1 did feature some little messages about your dehydration while wandering the world map. But it made sense since this was what the main quest was all about : getting water for survival.
Why not have it in NV if it does add stuff : like having the dehydration going way up during high effort and stress moments, ie. during and after hostile encounters, where you'd have to stop and take cover while refilling and cooling down, otherwise your character would become shaky and its vision blurred.
At least something else than just having to keep a certain stat above a certain level just for "realism"'s sake.

 

[Stealste]

Adding things for the sake of it does not automatically transalate as a better game. Unless it is relevant to the game or adds something of substance then why bother?

 

[Morbus]

I don't think the need for drinking and eating has anything to do with realism. I think it's meant as a purely fun-based mechanic for the people who like it.

After all, Fallout 3 was one of the most unrealistic games every made. Ever. Like. Ever. And I can't see how FONV will be any different. It certainly won't change a thing adding hunger, thirst and rest.

 

[UncannyGarlic]

And yet it adds to the flavour a bit. No need to make it annoying, but the way it was in SoC was fine. I have also seen people here (not you) vigorously complain in the stalker thread about the removal of hunger in CS, so yeah.

Still, it was entirely pointless and did nothing to improve the gameplay. It shouldn't have been there but it wasn't a big deal. If you ate automatically it would be better but still pointless.

I thought STALKER weapon condition was done decently well, they didn't die very fast with proper usage, and ultimately it wasn't a bother. Also, item repair was introduced in CS along with customization, was fairly cheap, and actually introduced a reason for earning the heaps of cash from selling stuff or taking missions.

Repairing is just a money drain and an annoying one at that. As for money, well I was playing SoC again not that long ago and had less problems with weight but having to actually worry about money would make the inventory system extremely annoying and I would want unlimited space.

There was never a reason for STALKER games to make the player go out scavenging. I'd like to remind y'all that it's not FO, and not even a PA title at all. The "Zone" is in the middle of a completely normal world. According to the game, a crapload of stuff gets in and out through the cordon because of bribery and such. Thus, there's reasons for stuff to be expensive, but no reason for most stuff to be hard to find. CS did go a bit over-the-top with rare wpn abundance in the endgame, but at least it did the money management part better.

Yeah but the point is that when the weapons you use are so abundant that their durability is irrelevant because you can just pick up another one a few feat away, it's raises the question of why even have durability on the majority of items? That said, you usually find the next level weapon before the unique item you found has a problem with durability, at least in my experience, thus making it moot for even unique items.

 

[Crni Vuk]

I ve yet to find a game that really gives a realistic representation of firearms and their condition where if feels more then just a gimick and really adds something to the gameplay. Not even infantry simulations or games with realism in mind like Operation Flashpoint, Arma 2 or Red Orchestra/Darkest Hour, Insurgency, Infiltration etc. really have such a feature that your weapons degrade over time when you use it and most (if not all) dont even include jaming for your weapon. So if games with realism dont aim for such features. But well its probably all just about how much you find it enjoyable in the end. For me in Stalker it was more anoying then really giving me a feeling of "immersive" gameplay. They could have achieved that idea in my eyes simply better by making amunition and good assault rifles scarce.