Is a good Fallout universe based action/RPG hybrid possible?

The Dutch Ghost

The Dutch Ghost

Grouchy old man of NMA
Moderator
Hello everyone,

I do not know if this is the right forum but as it deals with future Fallout games I thought this would be the best place for this question.

For a while I am wondering if a good Fallout games spin off (the Fallout series itself is a TB/RPG series, and I wouldn't change a thing in a possible sequel or sequels) which is a combination of both action (Real Time) and RPG elements (customising your own character and choosing how to develop him/her during the game).

Storywise it could take place some distrance from the regions where the earlier Fallout games (Fallout 1/2/Tactics) took place but still make small references to those games.

But I am more interested in how people on this board would want the gameplay to be?

I first would like to see other people's opinions before posting whatever I made up, but the SPECIAL system would definately be in it, deciding the player's character's strengths and weaknesses.

There would be some pre made characters for beginners but players can also create their own personal character, perhaps even deciding his/her background (raider/member of a Vault/former member of the Enclave)

What are your thoughts?
 
Very few people are receptive to a RT game. I prefer TB combat for a good RPG unless you don't have combat then it isn't an issue. The combat in FOT was ok but still I prefer TB as long as it is done well. I also think if you are going to create a post-apocalyptic game keep it out of the Fallout universe and make up your own ideas. Most of the people that make FOT maps and mods create their own stories that are separate from the universe. There might be ghouls and mutants but there is no BOS and the reasons for the existence of the ghouls and mutants are different than in Fallout. Be creative and don't use Fallout as a crutch.
 
I'm okay with that. But I really doubt you can make a good game out of it without leaning more on the action side, since real-time combat is inferior to turn-based in terms of strategy options available.

That is, I would rather have a good action game with RPG elements than RPG with real-time combat.
 
Hello JJ86 and APTYP,

Guess I wasn't really clear on this. I meant Fallout series spin off that would be an action game with RPG elements (but not like the bastard child of Ipay).

What do you think would have to be in this game (gameplay/concept) to make it a good game (in your opinions).

Also, if you feel like being creative, please tell what kind of storylines you have in mind. I myself would like to see a Fallout spin off taking place at the North American East Coast
 
Well, for one, it'd have to have some measure of statistics and skills. Being an FPS hybrid, you'd rely more on your personal skills (making it more about you and less about the character), but you could still implement skills in a way like what was done in Morrowind. While i disliked the game, the idea was that while you controlled yoru character via "standard" player skills - personally controlling where the character moved, jumped, etc - but still had character skills working in the background. Meaning, you could run or jump whenever you felt like, but a statistic in the background still determined how fast you could run and how far you could jump.

Mind you, this isn't a perfect solution, far from it. It ends up combining aspects which would be better off separated. CRPG players would prefer if character stats were determining the character's success, not your twitch skills; on the other side, FPS players throw fits because the character should succeed based on their own skills, not on attributes (one of the recurring criticisms of twitch players when talking of Deus Ex was that they could only aim better and cause more damage if they increased their weapon skills).


Storyline? Don't have the time to come up with one :P
 
Kind of hard to tell much about the concept because I don't really know what kind of an action game you have in mind. But a third-person shooter sounds like a good place to start (like Origin's "Crusader", or more recent "Crimson Land").

Don't really care about the story, but it's too easy to go wrong with the East Coast -- different culture, different landscape, even if we're talking about rural areas. Unless you are really talented, the setting will become too foreign and unfamiliar, which brings up the question of why even doing a spin-off if it doesn't look like the original. I'd just stick to areas around California -- Utah, Arizona, Nevada.
 
To clarify something:

I don't want the spin-off game from Interplay, they have already proved that they can't do a good spin-off. What I had in mind was fan games.
 
I MUCH prefer RT to TB. I hate waiting for all those people to take thir turn in FO1 and 2. Whenever I play Tactics I always think to myself how cool it would be for a proper Fallout game to have RT combat. Anyway, they were able to have both options in Tactics, so I would expect the same thing in FO3 if/when its ever made. That way, its satisfies everyone. (Unless the TB combat in tactics was shitty, I've never tried it)
 
A minor fix can prevent game from waiting on people who are outside of the screen.
 
Its hard to beat the strategy elements involved in TB combat. RT switches the emphasis on the game to quick action rather than detailed strategy. While there isn't anything wrong with quick action games, IMHO it doesn't have any place in a quality CRPG. Even in a Civ clone it is a horrendous thing and games like Rise of Nations make me cringe. Definitely, better care has to go into designing a good TB battle. I am not sure if the majority of TB battles in the two Fallouts were done as well as they could have been. But good TB battles have no equal and bring a dimension to combat that can be found nowhere else.

Patience is rewarded.
 
Hello everyone,

Thanks for the responses but I had something in mind that was a little more action based (no TB :( ) but still feels like a game taking place in the Fallout universe.

Personally I myself would opt for a Third Person perspective with the option to go first person when its necessary. While there might be some jumping involved (seeing as there would be broken stairs, holes and damaged bridges) this skill would not be influenced by how you made up your character in the beginning. Unless of course if you carry to much equipment, this would even influence your walking speed.

My idea for a background:

As mentioned before, my idea would take place at the North American East Coast amongst the ruins and remains of the great cities (so lots of damaged buildings to explore)

The time setting would be a while after Fallout 2, this would explain some of the events that took place in my idea and why there are now people from the West Coast living in this region.

Similar like in the rest of the US, great Vaults were built to shelter those that were considered necessary and important to rebuilt civilization after the war.

When the 'All Clear' signal was finally given, the inhabitants of these Vaults emerged only to find the outside world plagued by anarchy and chaos.

Belieiving themselves to be the last remains of civilization these Vault Dwellers set out to rebuilt society and bring order back to the world.

In time these small Vault communities learned out about each other and founded the Vault Alliance.

But as happens with other groups with idealistic beginnings the Vault Alliance grew corrupt. Seeing themselves as the inheritors of Earth, the leaders of the Vault Alliance became power hungry, seeing those who had to survive on the surface after the war as inferior creatures the Vault Alliance could use as they saw fit.

Tribals and Ghouls were now forced into slavery to build and maintain the Vault Alliance, while its citizens enjoyed the benefits and protection of it.

But both within the Vault Alliance and outside it unrest is brewing and the leaders of the Vault Alliance know that sooner or later someone will challenge their rule.


The player assumes the role of an officer in the Vault Security Force, the army of the Vault Alliance. As he/she has succesfully performed several missions in the past, he/she is promoted to the special forces department which is the moment that the player takes control.

Because of your status you have some more freedom of how you want to complete your future missions, and as your status increases you get access to more advanced equipment the Vault Alliance possesses.


The Vault Alliance does possess industrial manufacture facilities but these are nowhere near those of the pre war civilizations or the Enclave for example. The VA is still working on rebuilding the infrastructure and factories, explaining why equipment is still limited and why so much men power is needed.

Most of the more advanced hardware such as verhicles, generators and weaponry are salvaged from the wasteland or originate from the Vault storage facilities.

The VA also possesses Power Armour Technology but not to the standards of the Enclave, more like those of the BOS but with a different appearance due to repairs and modifications during their long use.


During the game the player would have to perform a series of missions taking out a group of raiders that threatens the VA, infiltrating a pre war military command centre whose defence system still functions, taking on the clone soldiers of a rivaling Vault group as well as an invasion of Super Mutants from the West, and learning more about the 'Menace from the West' everyone is talking about.

During the game the player gets several options to choose how to accomplish the missions and he/she can decide what type of person he/she wants to be.

You could for example stay true to the VA's policy and perform your missions without taking notice of the people you have to step on.

You could be a hero for the downthrotten and little people, try to change the Vault Alliance and make it into something more democratic and good.

Or perhaps you want to join forces with the Brotherhood/Calculator forces and force the Vault Alliance under their rule.


What do you people think of it?
 
i may sound like an idiot, but i would really like a raider game in the fallout-enviroment, rt, tb, even fps, i wouldnt mind if it just was good...........but that wouldnt be an rpg, ithink.......but watever what you think of me, DO NOT take me for an x-box BOS-loving idiot that think there will EVER be made a game as good as fallout again, i think ive been taken for that once before, and i dont want it to happen again.......
 
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