Also what is the obsession over loving turned-based combat?
its like a strategy game. no its not "realistic" but its incredibly addictive and thought provoking. for example action points are a resource you get every turn, i usually spend a lot of thought in how to use every last one of them to their fullest. even 1 single measly free ap can mean the difference between life and getting 3-4 rockets shoved up my ass.
now there are things you can do in real time combat that you cant in turn based(suppression fire for example, even if the game allows for interupts like x-com and silent storm you still have limited ability), however there are things that happen in turn based that dont fly in a truely ballenced real time system. look at fallout 3, weapons like the minigun do NO damage to give melee characters something of a chance. with an assult rifle full auto it might take me 20 hits on the enemy to put him down but only 3 with a power fist. in a turn based system a melee character can compete in a ballenced semi realistic environment. my latest hand to hand character does 2-7dmg per strike with his brass knuckles, the measly 10mm pistol is like 2-12 if i remember right, with the 10mm's range over the knuckles in most fights real time it would win with that damage scale. however because my character has a great deal of action points(action boy is such a nice thing to get for melee characters as well...) he can close with the pistoleer without being shredded before he even gets within reach. the pistoleer is then forced to choose between shooting point blank(and potentially getting punched by the melee) or running and potentially not getting a shot off or not running enough and still getting punched. its all a strategy game and it alters EVERYTHING in how combat behaves.
real time games have to create gimicks or tricks to allow melee to compete with rifles and shotguns. look at halo with its single hit fly across the room sword deaths, or shadow run's teleport system allowing for sword based users to manouver enough to be something of a threat. in fallout 1, 2 and tactics(if you set it to full turn based instead of the half system they got) every last type of character is pretty well ballenced by his strengths and weaknesses in combat. usually this sort of system makes a role playing game have whole new meaning and depth. its no longer the strongest character is the best at melee, or just pile on the endurance and make an omni character that can do everything with ease(as i have done in fo3) but a role playing strategy game where you have to think carefully about how you are going to aproach combat and the world carefully, because for example fritting away action points in combat(especially with a low agility character) is the quickest way to get killed. real time you can run, jump, shoot, and fart all at the same time, kinda dumbs down a lot of the gameplay.
anyway from what everyone has been requesting graphics and path finding wise i think i know the best engine currently for fo4(almost called it fo3.... whoops
), its the engine that powers silent storm(ive dont a tad bit of modding for it but not much...).
the silent storm engine is designed for turn based play, it has fully destructable environments, its stock pathfinding is pretty damn sweet allowing you to climb onto low ledges, drop down and everything(imagine exploring some ruined lab facility like the glow with that system, it could bring it whole new depth). it allready has called shots and is primed for an rpg system(though it'd be a bit of work converting it to special). its 3d which has its own set of advantages. you can get a better idea of the environment, especially in one as dynamic as silent storm, you get more of an apreciation of the bad ass look of your character, and it is MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH easier for the developers to put new objects into the game. it takes far less time to make a model for a thompson and animate it then it does to make 10 billion sprites with the thompson in its hands. but a sprite has no limit on detail when your modeling it before recording it(thus fo1 and 2's AWESOME gory death animations as opossed fo3's lameness).
the game also stock supports a world map that is VERY akin to fallout 1,2 and tactics complete with random encounters and everything. really taking that and turning it into a fallout game isnt too unbelievable, its pretty much set up to do it from the get go....
fallout 4 needs:
-epic plot that once again brings you to question the nature of humanity and what is right and wrong(seriously, the master's plan was one of the best plot paths ever).
-to actually use special and not allow individual skill to really determine the outcome of every last single thing(such as lock picking minigames, first person shooter fights that allow a character with 10% skill to kill a behemoth....)
-to be set smack dab in the center of the midwest. colorado being the center. it would make a GREAT area for fallout. colorado would have large radioactive areas potentially full of technology(i dont believe the rocky flats nuclear trigger factory would be shut down in the fallout timeline, there is norad, the air force command and denver is a good target too). utah would be struggleing but largely protected from colorado from the mountains. you'd have plains fights in the north, east and south, and have mountains to play in. besides its a good setting for a great plot, and as i said because of the radiation potential you could really expect a lot of gouls in the area.
-btw alaska is a STUPID setting. ya lets have the nation's largets most inhospitable least populated with the least roads state as the main focus of the game. a lot of the settlements there simply wouldnt survive without acess to a civilized outside world, so the player would essentially be walking through ghost town and ghost town and the only real settlements would likely be "tribals" in small groups. i mean dc could have been great but bethesda shat on every single last opertunity for story that the location itself presents(save for a stupid robot that thinks its a founding father, actually one of the few fun quests).
-to make the bozar what the image shows in fallout. that is a .50 caliber 10 round semi automatic low recoil sniper head exploding weapon. if the game were set up like fallout 1 or 2 it would be one of the few "slug throwers"(i love that slightly incorrect term... didnt that come from wasteland?) that is actually capible of dealing good damage to someone in power armor without a critical hit.
-large major cities similar to ncr, and so on. however something as big as klamath would also count as a "city" and then dotted around have small "settlements" and "homesteads". homesteads could be like 2-3 houses, settlements could be like 5-10. it doesnt seem that important but it will add a lot of depth to the world map, more places to hide possible quests, and a place for a tired hero to stumble into to duct tape himself together.
-as everyone is in agreeance just the general classic fallout rules, including the message box which added so much joy to the game helping you understand a lot about your suroundings as well as adding wit and sarcasm to the situation.
Actually someone has done a mod to add item descriptions, with pictures
Even damn music in tech demo is much more better than this orchestral crap from Fallout 3.
