I hope they keep the side plots and the very many ways to be sidetracked from the main story line. The feeling that you just sometimes stumbles into some deeper plot was very cool. There was a story behind most fronts.
Though I understand that the diversity come at the expense of depth, I still think there were different places where they could add "closure" without too much effort.
Like if I encountered a slaves caravan, I could kill everyone of the masters, but the slaves would not be set free. This was also the case when I first freed the slaves in the camp in the town. I would like to both have the option of freeing them or selling them. Actually, just telling them that they were free and them saying "Hurrah!" would at least have been something...
Just enacting a monk when you join the order and driving people crazy with the "bless you, my son" while receiving collects, would have been fun.
Showing some poor girl junkie a shot of what she wants and demanding favours for it, would be fun. To turn her sober and drugfree would also be fun.
Winning a fight and making up would be fun. Some more brutal places that shouldn't have a negative impact on your reputation, but a positive one.
This is the expressive flexibility that creates immersion.
Being captured and turned a slave would have been fun. The dangers would be greater at the beginning. With a good rep, someone would buy you and either set you free or demand a service (that you otherwise maybe would've been paid for).
There was an option to gather money as a tracker selling pelts which was great. Actually that is all you need in order to be able to tell people when telling them about the game "and I decided to spend some time as a tracker earning money in order to buy the magnum before I decided to move on...." and people go wide-eyed and ask "what kind of game IS that? The other guy roughened up a pimp, stole his money, and took over HIS business...".
I would also like to lay and wait for a caravan along a road or something. It bothered me that I could not lay in ambush, or I couldn't demand people for money. The barter interface should also have an element of threat involved. If we are alone, then I should be able to force a bargain in effect a robbery.
So I can be raider/robber, but also decide if I murder my victims, wether I let them go or sell them as slaves...
And too bad that you could not disarm or immobilize your opponent without risking his death. If he is drawing a gun, then successfully throwing a knife at his hand is a scene that looks very impressive.
If I can get a raider unconscious, I should be able to turn him over to the local authorities (if they are established and try to enforce their surrounding area instead of only keeping order in the town).
I also disliked the fact that the whole town would jump you if you took out a homie. In the first casino (not in the mafia town), I came through the underground and snuck up on the guard from behind wanting to hit him unconscious and steal the money, but everything went bananas even though I took him out quickly and silently. It has been a long time since I played the game, but if a town did not like you, then you could be in the position that everyone would attack you at will. Actually, I liked the suggestion that you could pay a fine or something. There may be different ways of paying back in different towns. Jailtime, herding cattle, gate watch, working in the fields, working in the mines...
I think people behaved themselves too well aside from the scripted onslaughts. Fights should be more common. Like a pickpocket being spotted. Some times should have more brawls than others. So you actually would be a bit afraid of entering.
****
And as this is typically a game to show the guys, then I usually lure them into the shotgun wedding, the hooker who just needs one more ride to be debt free and the bishop family bedroom warmth. Though this is not the major story line, then people are just astounded that these things can be done in a game that is not called "Larry". And me for one thought that many of the female models had great amounts of sex appeal.
Also, when we got the cheater, actually the girls wanted to play it as well because the micromanaged mortal combat with rats was skipped, and one could freely explore the story. And us guys were actually left watching soccer while THEY were at the computer. Too bad they did not find the dude in the bar that would pay them for turning tricks, but they sure had a ball with being a kickass chick slamming money on the table in the whore house and demanding a man... there were some very excited cries when they encountered the dudes in armor which laid waste to the poor family. Mad as hell that they could not intervene.
When I first played the game, I really did not see the point of wasting effort and money for the adult content that wasn't plotrelated, but it sure adds immersion. It adds spice, and you are free to leave it alone.
The porn studio was very fun in that context though we performed less than stellar (to our girls' extreme enjoyment as one was looking at the screen and ran out into the living room to tell the others what happened). However, I have to agree that it was bit out of place.
But we were 8-12 guys and girls there and Fallout2 had all of us riveted for many many hours. No other game has managed that. There were people there who *never* play computer games. Though I was fairly familiar with the game and saw to that they ran into most things that I knew would have appeal.
I am not sure wether you can call this posting "Suggestions and ideas". This is partly a tribute to the people behind the game, and an appeal that you should bear in mind that the flexibility at the core of the gameplay to roleplay your unit being either saint or an a** (or something in between) has been a distinct and successfull feature so far. And I hope the option of having a giggolo approach on this virtual world wont be abandoned. It is a party hit, and its fun.
Though I understand that the diversity come at the expense of depth, I still think there were different places where they could add "closure" without too much effort.
Like if I encountered a slaves caravan, I could kill everyone of the masters, but the slaves would not be set free. This was also the case when I first freed the slaves in the camp in the town. I would like to both have the option of freeing them or selling them. Actually, just telling them that they were free and them saying "Hurrah!" would at least have been something...
Just enacting a monk when you join the order and driving people crazy with the "bless you, my son" while receiving collects, would have been fun.
Showing some poor girl junkie a shot of what she wants and demanding favours for it, would be fun. To turn her sober and drugfree would also be fun.
Winning a fight and making up would be fun. Some more brutal places that shouldn't have a negative impact on your reputation, but a positive one.
This is the expressive flexibility that creates immersion.
Being captured and turned a slave would have been fun. The dangers would be greater at the beginning. With a good rep, someone would buy you and either set you free or demand a service (that you otherwise maybe would've been paid for).
There was an option to gather money as a tracker selling pelts which was great. Actually that is all you need in order to be able to tell people when telling them about the game "and I decided to spend some time as a tracker earning money in order to buy the magnum before I decided to move on...." and people go wide-eyed and ask "what kind of game IS that? The other guy roughened up a pimp, stole his money, and took over HIS business...".
I would also like to lay and wait for a caravan along a road or something. It bothered me that I could not lay in ambush, or I couldn't demand people for money. The barter interface should also have an element of threat involved. If we are alone, then I should be able to force a bargain in effect a robbery.
So I can be raider/robber, but also decide if I murder my victims, wether I let them go or sell them as slaves...
And too bad that you could not disarm or immobilize your opponent without risking his death. If he is drawing a gun, then successfully throwing a knife at his hand is a scene that looks very impressive.
If I can get a raider unconscious, I should be able to turn him over to the local authorities (if they are established and try to enforce their surrounding area instead of only keeping order in the town).
I also disliked the fact that the whole town would jump you if you took out a homie. In the first casino (not in the mafia town), I came through the underground and snuck up on the guard from behind wanting to hit him unconscious and steal the money, but everything went bananas even though I took him out quickly and silently. It has been a long time since I played the game, but if a town did not like you, then you could be in the position that everyone would attack you at will. Actually, I liked the suggestion that you could pay a fine or something. There may be different ways of paying back in different towns. Jailtime, herding cattle, gate watch, working in the fields, working in the mines...
I think people behaved themselves too well aside from the scripted onslaughts. Fights should be more common. Like a pickpocket being spotted. Some times should have more brawls than others. So you actually would be a bit afraid of entering.
****
And as this is typically a game to show the guys, then I usually lure them into the shotgun wedding, the hooker who just needs one more ride to be debt free and the bishop family bedroom warmth. Though this is not the major story line, then people are just astounded that these things can be done in a game that is not called "Larry". And me for one thought that many of the female models had great amounts of sex appeal.
Also, when we got the cheater, actually the girls wanted to play it as well because the micromanaged mortal combat with rats was skipped, and one could freely explore the story. And us guys were actually left watching soccer while THEY were at the computer. Too bad they did not find the dude in the bar that would pay them for turning tricks, but they sure had a ball with being a kickass chick slamming money on the table in the whore house and demanding a man... there were some very excited cries when they encountered the dudes in armor which laid waste to the poor family. Mad as hell that they could not intervene.
When I first played the game, I really did not see the point of wasting effort and money for the adult content that wasn't plotrelated, but it sure adds immersion. It adds spice, and you are free to leave it alone.
The porn studio was very fun in that context though we performed less than stellar (to our girls' extreme enjoyment as one was looking at the screen and ran out into the living room to tell the others what happened). However, I have to agree that it was bit out of place.
But we were 8-12 guys and girls there and Fallout2 had all of us riveted for many many hours. No other game has managed that. There were people there who *never* play computer games. Though I was fairly familiar with the game and saw to that they ran into most things that I knew would have appeal.
I am not sure wether you can call this posting "Suggestions and ideas". This is partly a tribute to the people behind the game, and an appeal that you should bear in mind that the flexibility at the core of the gameplay to roleplay your unit being either saint or an a** (or something in between) has been a distinct and successfull feature so far. And I hope the option of having a giggolo approach on this virtual world wont be abandoned. It is a party hit, and its fun.