Fallout series

[The Foxtrot]

I feel like I am in the minority who enjoys every game, besides 3 to a degree, for its strengths while being able to look past their flaws, besides some of those god damn gun designs in 4 my God are they fucking ugly. The main issue with 3 for me is a personal one and a bit of a PL so I will keep it to myself. That said though I am in the camp that things 1, 2 and New Vegas are the best in the series overall in no particular order.

4 is a great game, but a terrible Fallout title I will not deny it but it's something I find myself returning to almost as often as I do 1/2 and NV just because I find the core pretty damn fun, it's a shame the story blows chunks but at least some of the characters are cool like Hancock and Nick. Anyways fuck the Railroad and the BoS in it is just diet Enclave change my mind.

EDIT: Also glad it looks like Imperator fucked off again, dude always shits up the thread when shows up.

I'm with you, with the exception that I do enjoy 3 as more of a wackier experience. The Capital Wasteland feels more like a theme park than a "living world" to me, and that's okay, because I enjoy blasting Raiders and Super Mutants. I play Fallout 4 like more of a "customizable sandbox" where I run around killing shit, playing tongue hockey with Piper, and building up settlements.

Honestly doing stuff like that actually is part of what makes 4 a fun and enjoyable experience for me, same goes in to designing an aesthetically pleasing settlement that has defenses that actually make sense and don't just boil down to slapping turrets everywhere to rip things to shreds, of course having sim settlements, just classic AIO and conqueror I haven't tried 2 yet, makes it easier to just have it happen on its own then I just need to fix the wiring when I get there and assign the settlers to fix their AI.

As for the NPC stuff I dunno since I generally just give anyone I have set to defend using a collection of handmade rifles from when I slaughter the pack at the end of Nuka World, degenerates like them belong on the cross, or before that I arm them with shit like combat rifles and hunting rifles depending on their position and even though I tend to run Amazing Follower Tweaks and Better Companions I more often than not only run around with just Dogmeat cause he is a good boy who's model was based off a female dog, RIP River, and his general nature makes me feel like a deceased dog of mine is still with me in some way. Plus the x and their dog trope is a rather effective one especially in a post apocalyptic setting.

I run the "Minutemen Reborn" mod as well as mods that add the Makarov PM, AK-74, Mosin-Nagant, and the PTRS-41. So my Minutemen look kind of like a mix of 1970s/1980s American troops with the "Wasteland" Camo, but with Soviet-era weapons. And in my opinion, these weapons would fit the post-apocalypse better than a lot of the Vanilla weapons, especially the Makarov and Mosin-Nagant for the average civilian.

I also set up my settlements to be "believable". Take Sanctuary, for example. I set up an actual roadblock/checkpoint right at the bridge, with guard posts and MG sentry turrets looking out over the bridge and I have four other guard towers + 2 MG sentry guns for each tower along the river. But then facing back towards the path to Vault 111 is another guard post/checkpoint identical to the one overlooking the bridge, with the other "holes" in the settlement being walled off.
Every house with a backyard has a little fence with a garden, a water pump in the back as well, and two people to each bedroom in a house. I also fix up the houses to actually look like my settlers have truly moved in. So they grow their own food, they all have little water pumps, they live in a secured and walled-off town with sentry guns and dedicated guards (who look like the Minutemen I described above), and even common Settlers have either Makarovs or Mosins for self-defense.
The destroyed houses that you clear? I turn those into either the power station (the one near the river in the cul-de-sac), Trader Stores (with appropriate décor representing the type of trading going on), or the Town Doctor (with a medical vendor and stuff). I like the feeling that I'm truly rebuilding civilization.
Long post, I know, but...I think the only legitimately "bad" modern FO game is 76.

 

[Mysterious Autist XX]

I'm with you, with the exception that I do enjoy 3 as more of a wackier experience. The Capital Wasteland feels more like a theme park than a "living world" to me, and that's okay, because I enjoy blasting Raiders and Super Mutants. I play Fallout 4 like more of a "customizable sandbox" where I run around killing shit, playing tongue hockey with Piper, and building up settlements.

Understandable, it's mostly a case of having been in the DC area a lot in my life so the inaccuracies just really take me outta 3 at times and my autism just can't let my suspension of disbelief kick in to let it slide. That is basically what I do too and honestly Piper is kinda underrated imo, honestly the only companion in 4 I think sucks is Preston and that is more on him being a radiant quest bot more than he is a character.

I run the "Minutemen Reborn" mod as well as mods that add the Makarov PM, AK-74, Mosin-Nagant, and the PTRS-41. So my Minutemen look kind of like a mix of 1970s/1980s American troops with the "Wasteland" Camo, but with Soviet-era weapons. And in my opinion, these weapons would fit the post-apocalypse better than a lot of the Vanilla weapons, especially the Makarov and Mosin-Nagant for the average civilian.

I also set up my settlements to be "believable". Take Sanctuary, for example. I set up an actual roadblock/checkpoint right at the bridge, with guard posts and MG sentry turrets looking out over the bridge and I have four other guard towers + 2 MG sentry guns for each tower along the river. But then facing back towards the path to Vault 111 is another guard post/checkpoint identical to the one overlooking the bridge, with the other "holes" in the settlement being walled off.
Every house with a backyard has a little fence with a garden, a water pump in the back as well, and two people to each bedroom in a house. I also fix up the houses to actually look like my settlers have truly moved in. So they grow their own food, they all have little water pumps, they live in a secured and walled-off town with sentry guns and dedicated guards (who look like the Minutemen I described above), and even common Settlers have either Makarovs or Mosins for self-defense.
The destroyed houses that you clear? I turn those into either the power station (the one near the river in the cul-de-sac), Trader Stores (with appropriate décor representing the type of trading going on), or the Town Doctor (with a medical vendor and stuff). I like the feeling that I'm truly rebuilding civilization.
Long post, I know, but...I think the only legitimately "bad" modern FO game is 76.

I have been meaning to grab a bunch of that stuff at some point but I am a lazy fuck and life reasons have gotten in the way of me being able to download some mods I want.

Man am I glad I am not the only one who does that stuff, I usually try to do something similar in various settlements too with at least two entrances usually following the roads leading in and out of the settlement though I will sometimes put some turrets along the side walls to fend off intruders from those directions too. I 100% agree with you on 76 being the only "bad" modern Fallout game, and even then from what I have heard the game actually has improved a fair bit though I would sooner replay BoS than buy it to see for myself.

 

[Illumithotty]

Replaying Fallout 4 and I actually... like this? I think the patches/unofficial patches have progressed enough that it's just infinitely more stable than it was at release. Plus I've finally played Too Much of New Vegas I suppose, so I can appreciate where it really does fall down compared to a more polished/streamlined game like Fallout 4. I still don't care for the reliance on VATS or the eternal treadmill of enemies getting strong enough and spongy enough that my best weapons feel like wet spitballs, and the 'good' factions both needed a lot more polish - my complaints with the Minutemen and Railroad can be found everywhere on the internet for being too needy, bland, and unfocused. But the other weaknesses are things it did better than other Fallout games but just didn't do enough of, really.

I really liked how much more interwoven with the locations and quests that the companion NPCs are compared to other titles. I actually kind of liked the likes/dislikes system because it worked for me in picking companions that're going to be really enthusiastic about the kind of stuff I want to do - I think it could've been more useful as a way to level up/enhance companions than being a check gate on their relationship values for getting a perk. And I do think it would've been nice to have companion sidequests like in New Vegas too, since the ones that do get a little mission for their own are there but for some reason it's not fleshed out for the rest.

The weapon customization and legendary system just needed one tiny little thing to really make it come together for me, and that's actually modable in switching out legendary bonuses from one weapon (a wooden cane that does extra damage to robots, wow!) to one where it's actually useful. The pipe weapons are still an awful decision for how much work must've gone into them to the detriment of other aspects, however. And I liked the F4 take on how power armor will actually work for the player the most out of all the other games; in F1/F2 it was just the last iteration of armor upgrades with F3/NV making it really tough but also completely tanking your movement speed. F4 gave it more of a power-up feeling which isn't for everyone's tastes of course, but it felt much more useful to me compared to F3/NV while also more distinctly like being a walking tank compared to F1/F2. And while the way the game introduced it does kind of cheapen the impact, it was a really good tutorial for how it can work.

 

[Snekposter]

And while the way the game introduced it does kind of cheapen the impact, it was a really good tutorial for how it can work.

Unfortunately they give you a minigun at the same time, and as a result what used to be a godlike endgame weapon if you could afford the ammo costs... sucks donkey balls.

 

[Mysterious Autist XX]

Unfortunately they give you a minigun at the same time, and as a result what used to be a godlike endgame weapon if you could afford the ammo costs... sucks donkey balls.

I hate that so much, its one of the big pet peeves I have with 4 as a whole along with the assault rifle's general existence. Doesn't help that the mini gun also just has a really weak sound effect attached to it, to the point where I find Peter Griffin giggling to be a more impactful sound, at least in vanilla if you get an explosive Minigun it actually does some pretty bonkers damage but still you shouldn't NEED a legendary effect to be good.

 

[TVB]

Doesn't help that the mini gun also just has a really weak sound effect attached to it, to the point where I find Peter Griffin giggling to be a more impactful sound

You've finally noticed me

 

[TheHarbinger]

Doesn't help that the mini gun also just has a really weak sound effect attached to it.

This is an intentional design choice for practically every video game machine gun. They want the audio to standout for weapons but also not blow your eardrums out. So machine guns get that high pitched whirring noise because the sound is easy to identify for the average player. Same with silenced guns having almost magic noise reduction in most games or movies despite being unrealistic.

 

[Mysterious Autist XX]

You've finally noticed me

I will always notice Peter, and you're a funny guy TVB.

This is an intentional design choice for practically every video game machine gun. They want the audio to standout for weapons but also not blow your eardrums out. So machine guns get that high pitched whirring noise because the sound is easy to identify for the average player. Same with silenced guns having almost magic noise reduction in most games or movies despite being unrealistic.

and let's not forget the fact that many games have that spin up time for miniguns too which also goes against how they actually work and just hurts their damage potential even more, still doesn't stop me from bringing a green snubnosed one with me in payday 2 along with a green Luger.

 

[TVB]

I will always notice Peter, and you're a funny guy TVB.

Aww shucks.

 

[30+GameOvers]

(Base)Miniguns sucked in all previous Fallout games as well, so that's not anything new. In fact, I'm glad you get a big gun early on, they did something similar in Fallout 3 with the Rock-It Launcher. One of the few good design decisions Bethesda made, even tho removing skills kind of invalidates specializing in certain weapons now when it's all a matter of preference and perks now.
Also, there is one guaranteed legendary you get from a Goodneighbour quest that adds fire damage to every bullet, useful if you don't want to got the Laser Gatling route or don't get the bleeding/exploding/never ending variant from a legendary drop

 

[Big Brown Schlub]

Just recently finished a playthrough of New Vegas, doing a Legion-aligned crit cowboy build. I limited myself to only guns affected by the Cowboy perk and wearing cowboy style attire so it's not optimal due to no Joshua Graham armor and no 1st Recon beret, but it's still insane. I also barely used melee because I want my next run to be a House-aligned yojimbo meme build where I try to get a katana ASAP and beat the game only using it. So I also limited myself there since Chance's Knife is affected by Cowboy and that weapon is just insane. Still, the shooty variant of cowboy is really strong too, once you get the Medicine Stick it's game over, I remember 1 hitting Divide deathclaws with sneak crits with that bad boi.

 

[Lone Wandering Courier]

After doing a grunt build with centered around "a light in shining darkness", I decided to do an energy weapons build. I used to really like energy weapons in fallout games ages ago, but now after coming back to them they just feel so unsatisfying to use (at least the ones in new vegas). Though maybe mods might be affecting things (using viva new vegas including the extended section with mods like Vigor [which is basically diet Jsawyer]).

 

[30+GameOvers]

After doing a grunt build with centered around "a light in shining darkness", I decided to do an energy weapons build. I used to really like energy weapons in fallout games ages ago, but now after coming back to them they just feel so unsatisfying to use (at least the ones in new vegas). Though maybe mods might be affecting things (using viva new vegas including the extended section with mods like Vigor [which is basically diet Jsawyer]).

Many of the energy weapons were end game tier in older titles, so they were all powerful BFGs aside from maybe the pistols. Even Fallout 3 made sure to make the Laser and Plasma rifles one of the most powerful and reliable weapons in the game, with retarded OP DLC weapons like pretty much everything from Mothership Zeta. In NV, the entire game is much more balanced, so you have more early game plasma and laser weapons than before. This ruins the illusion and lets the players know that energy weapons are nothing special, just an alternative to the bullet based weapons...ones that are easier to find, are less expensive, have more ammo types and more common ammo overall. Simply put, energy weapons in NV are outclassed by pretty much every other class, unless you got some ridiculous Laser Commander or Meltdown build. Old World Blues and Dead Money kind of redeemed the class by adding Holorifle(less weighty alternative to Anti Material Rifle), Sonic Emmiter(Tarantula is bugged so a critical is ALWAYS a one hit kill, that includes sneak criticals. You can kill Rawr, legendary bloatfly and giant robo scorpion and more in one hit, I think only Ulysses might be immune to the one hit kill effect) and LAER(spiritually the pulse rifle from Fallout 2). Most other weapons are not that powerful and either inferior or more expensive variants of other weapons that most aren't going to bother with.

 

[Illumithotty]

Unfortunately they give you a minigun at the same time, and as a result what used to be a godlike endgame weapon if you could afford the ammo costs... sucks donkey balls.

Underwhelming big guns has been an unfortunate feature to the series. I've never really enjoyed the big guns because they're usually underpowered and by the time you're supposed get them, the best use cases of a bunch of lightly armored/low HP swarming around tend to dry up anyway. Again, I think it kind of worked for FO4: you can turn the basic level 1 raiders into soup but it will make confronting a level 1 deathclaw a very chancy prospect - of course this might be me being shit at video games but the deathclaw killed me a couple times in that first confrontation.

(Base)Miniguns sucked in all previous Fallout games as well, so that's not anything new. In fact, I'm glad you get a big gun early on, they did something similar in Fallout 3 with the Rock-It Launcher. One of the few good design decisions Bethesda made, even tho removing skills kind of invalidates specializing in certain weapons now when it's all a matter of preference and perks now.

The Fallout 3 approach showed they at least tried, but with everything being broken and scaled for use right from the start it just made the laser pistols feel like glorified flashlights. One of the big reasons I still can't quite get into Fallout 3, even if it does offer a lot of neat moments.

 

[30+GameOvers]

The Fallout 3 approach showed they at least tried, but with everything being broken and scaled for use right from the start it just made the laser pistols feel like glorified flashlights. One of the big reasons I still can't quite get into Fallout 3, even if it does offer a lot of neat moments.

If you think that's bad, wait till you get a load of the Junk Jet, the spiritual successor to the Rock It Launcher in Fallout 4:
First of all, junk has value now, so why would you be shooting it out of a gun when there is plenty of ammo around? Second, the range on the gun is pathetic. You could snipe enemies in Fallout 3 if you had the skill, this one is useless beyond the point blank encounters. Third, and this is what kills it, the damage is PATHETIC. You get this weapon in the location where the first Brotherhood quest takes you, so you need to get quite a bit into the game to start that quest. You might already have something better by that point, at least Rock It Launcher was available in Megaton, straight out of the vault.

Fallout 3 Laser Pistols were pretty bad, but remember that you pick them up extremely early on. They are your equivalent of 10mm pistols for the entire game, which to be fair was also their purpose in OG Fallout games, except you got them way too late for them to make a difference. You're supposed to switch to a Laser Rifle early on(given to you quite early if you follow the main story, the ammo is still rare until mid to late game) and then grab a Plasma Pistol as your sidearm or go for one of the more exotic options, like Protectron's Gaze or Alien Blaster. In the mid to late game when Enclave shows up, you get a choice between switching to a more powerful laser with extended mag or a more powerful, but less accurate Plasma Rifle(unique variant available even before Enclave shows up, so you can skip lasers entirely if you know your way around the game).
This might seem limiting and boring, but in a game with plenty of pea shooters, having powerful day to day weapons is a blessing, and that's the main benefit of Energy Weapons in that game(especially as pretty much all Enclave troops drop energy ammo, making it laughably easy to stockpile once they show up). With DLC you get even more options, like Gauss Rifle for a sniper build, Laser Shotguns with Broken Steel and a unique variant in Pitt, a magnum pistol in Point Lookout and a whole new class of Pulse weapons in Mothership Zeta(along with a BFG Plasma Pistol that is more powerful than it's rifle variants). Variety like this should have been in the main game, but better late than never

 

[Big Brown Schlub]

For NV just get the Tri-Beam Laser Rifle ASAP if you want to do energy weapons, it's insane in crit builds. Its only downside is that its durability is shit. The only energy rifle that can replace it imo is Elijah's Advanced LAER.

 

[Mysterious Autist XX]

For NV just get the Tri-Beam Laser Rifle ASAP if you want to do energy weapons, it's insane in crit builds. Its only downside is that its durability is shit. The only energy rifle that can replace it imo is Elijah's Advanced LAER.

Directions unclear using the Laser RCW.

 

[LORD IMPERATOR]

For NV just get the Tri-Beam Laser Rifle ASAP if you want to do energy weapons, it's insane in crit builds. Its only downside is that its durability is shit. The only energy rifle that can replace it imo is Elijah's Advanced LAER.

Elijah's advanced LAER chews up repair kits like no tomorrow. It's better to use the regular LAER and upgrade it. Other reliable energy weapons are the plasma caster and a fully-upgraded laser rifle. The former fires plasma bolts at a reliable, fast rate, and the latter can disintegrate foes with stealth crit attacks.

Even Fallout 3 made sure to make the Laser and Plasma rifles one of the most powerful and reliable weapons in the game, with retarded OP DLC weapons like pretty much everything from Mothership Zeta.

To be fair, you mostly get those weapons near the end of the game, or in some really secluded areas. I got my first plasma rifle by solving that synth quest in Rivet city. But most people get their first plasma rifle when you're trying to escape from the Enclave after James dies in Project Purity, and by that point, you're practically at the endgame quest; after that, it's Vault 87 and Raven Rock, then the final battle. So while the FO3 energy weapons are OP, it's balanced by the fact that you either get them by exploring the wasteland, or near the end of the game when it's almost over. My favorite energy weapon aside from the synth's plasma rifle is the Metal Blaster, which is the shotgun variant of the laser rifle, and I got that by exploring the Pitt for steel ingots.

In NV, the entire game is much more balanced, so you have more early game plasma and laser weapons than before. This ruins the illusion and lets the players know that energy weapons are nothing special, just an alternative to the bullet based weapons...ones that are easier to find, are less expensive, have more ammo types and more common ammo overall.

I still laugh my ass off at the fact that some dude with football pads and a cowboy weapon can take several shots from a plasma caster even though my energy weapon skill is at 100. I suppose Caesar's Legion training is like Batman training where it's peak human performance, and they can take a few hits from something that should've turned them into green goo with one shot.

If it were me, I'd just have the elite Legion Centurions and Praetorians wear their own versions of T-51b or T-45d power armor with a red cape and Roman-style decor, like imagine the helmet decorated with a red plume similar to Centurion helmets, while the pauldrons are painted red with the symbol of a golden bull stamped on top. Since they already have thermic lances, ballistic fists, and super sledges, it fits. That's how I'd explain having Legion elites shrug off energy weapon attacks. As for the lore explanation, you can say that some of them are actual paladins from the Brotherhood who defected and swore allegiance to Caesar, whereas others are soldiers who were born in the Legion, and they got their knowledge of power armor training either from paladins who defected to the Legion, or paladins whom they captured and tortured for the knowledge.

Plasma grenades can still fuck the enemy in the ass, though. Doesn't matter if they're Legion, NCR, or Brotherhood. Load up on that shit for both the 40mm and 25mm variant, and watch the fireworks.

 

[TVB]

Directions unclear using the Laser RCW.

Sometimes you gotta follow what it does in some Fallout games

 

[Mysterious Autist XX]

Sometimes you gotta follow what it does in some Fallout games

Pretty much.