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HARDSHIP AND INCOMPETENCE

FALLOUT 4 REDESIGN

Disclaimer

Please excuse my English, I'm not a native speaker. Each personal taste differs, this document represents mine. This is a set of design goals first and foremost. Whether some of them are hard or even impossible to achieve is a separate question. Implementation choice should be made towards simplicity and modularity. This is not a finished document, rather a mind-map in progress at this point.

Scope

This document imagines a significant redesign of the base game. Not an overhaul by itself, meaning the goal is not a new giant monolithic mod, it nevertheless would probably not work great with other intrusive mods either in terms if mod conflicts and/or logical consistency. The new design would not be condusive to a broad variety of gameplay styles, it has a particular one in mind, let's try to describe it:

  • Nora is an average person. She is afraid of danger, she does not have any special training, she does like an adventure, but one not involving fights she might lose.
  • (Option) Nora is a submissive sex addict as well, so her adventures take that into account.
  • A male PC is also possible but is outside the scope at this point.

Goals

  • Take a merry looter-shooter and make it over into an immersive but rewarding post-apoc survival. Yes, that's the goal of a large number of projects already. The irony is not lost, but please read on.
  • As a first, extremely coarse analogy, take The Long Dark.
  • Nora should be mostly helpless, the power fantasy is what we want to do away with.
  • Taking away many original systems and design decisions, we should provide our own fun.
  • Remember, losing IS fun.
  • At the same time this game does not provide a satisfactory platform for permadeath, we need to take steps to avoid BAD frustration, keeping GOOD one. What's what is the hard part of this design.
  • Violence should be the last option, not the first. In many cases it shouldn't be an option at all. This has nothing to do with political statements, rather the natural fear of death and injury.
  • The difficulty is not a goal by itself. It must NOT come from artificial gamey sources like bullet sponges. Doing things that would be natural should not be difficult. Doing things otherwise, like attacking several hard targets alone SHOULD be difficult.

Broad strokes

  • Level cap at level 1, no level ups (iXPBase [GMST:00064625] seems easiest).
  • All SPECIAL at 1, no ways to raise them.
  • Optionally yes ways to raise them but as a slow in-game process.
  • In-game ways to raise skills or gain perks. Slowly.
  • Low resources availability.
  • The world that makes more sense.
  • Much less main quest railroading, ideally none.
  • Much less bad quests like Kid in the Fridge.
  • Bad quests that can be salvaged made better.
  • Ideally new fitting quests that match the setting.
  • Maybe an end-game goal, maybe not.
  • Believable user experience, gamey/magical/unexplainable/unfitting elements gone as much as possible.
  • Maybe forbid drawing weapons/fists altogether, at least until in-game reasons to contrary.

The population

  • In general people should not be immediately hostile to Nora and one another.
  • Human conflicts mostly should not be fatal.
  • Synths and robots should only be hostile where appropriate.
  • Supermutants should either be gone or made to co-exist. Or none, maybe they are less of a problem and are best left alone. Still, I don't like them in Boston.
  • The Institute should be made to at least make sense, ideally contribute to the setting.
  • Prydwen should stay out of Boston.
  • Alternatively, if it does arrive, BoS should be integrated into society at some point.

Hardship

This document takes inspiration from "AAF Hardship". The gameplay should not in general revolve around sex scenes, but we won't shy away from them. On the same note it's beyong the scope at this point to provide two significantly different designs: with and without Hardship. As such, we'll assume to have Hardship as a starting point and build around it.

Immersive ammo

Weapons that feed from external magazines should require them as objects. Some in-game ways to reload/unload a mag naturally would also be helpful.

Immersive inventory

So you are naked, alone, and yet you have a hundred pounds of stuff on you? No. Nora should only be able to carry stuff if there is space for it. Without adding new mechanics like volume and shape let's draft what's possible and easy, improving on "Scavver's Closet". With backpack you should be able to carry most of smallish things freely, without it you should only have pockets in your clothing and armor.

  • One weapon in your hands
  • One long weapon behind your back (rifle/sword etc)
  • One sidearm in each holster/sheath
  • One small object in each pocket
  • One binoculars on the neck
  • Armor pieces and "thick" clothes should only be warn

Now, what to do with power armor:

  • No inventory
  • One weapon in your hands
  • That's it
  • Have to enter it without armor and backpacks, maybe even naked

All of these rules should ideally apply to all NPCs as well.

Maybe there's a way to attach containers to objects? Anyway, losing an occupied object space should "transfer" the objects into other ones or drop them if there is no more room.

Backpacks should not add carry weight, only provide object space.

Inventory, take 2

Actors have inventory "slots". For a human, it's something like this:

  • Always: hands (carrying)
  • Always: neck (allows several, wearing on your neck, like dog tags/binoculars)
  • Always: shoulders (rifle or backpack)
  • Clothing: slots in pockets (varied)
  • Armour: slots in pockets (varied)
  • Add-ons: pouches, belts, holsters etc.
  • Backpack: the main compartment

Crafting

Nora does not know how to craft, not is she interested in learning it.

Building

"Sim settlements" actually got it mostly covered. Would also be nice to have a way to "buy" workshop items. Ideally Nora should refuse to build anything at all, but may have an opinion on interior designs and an architectural taste.

Time

Stuff should take time. Scrapping a car should take half a day, scrapping a truck -- several days. Tasks that take a long time should be made incremental. Alternatively just disable them and provide an in-game way to do them indirectly.

Immersive NPCs

Oh boy.

  • It should be possible to ask for help with tasks you are unable to do yourself.

No pip-boy

  • ? Opening vault doors
  • ? Interacting with "Real Handcuffs" collars
  • ? Both with Power Armor
  • ? Alternative interface for inventory
  • ? Alternative interface for stats/data
  • ? A standalone map
  • ? A standalone radio
  • ? A standalone flashlight
  • ? VATS question

The world

  • Cell respawn gone or set to gigantic value
  • No legendary actors

Loot in general

  • No legendary items.
  • No loot on dead humans/gen3s. Nora wants nothing to do with the dead.
  • No loot on dead creatures. Nora is not a butcher.
  • Maybe loot on dead machines.

Wearables

  • Seems like a good idea to remove all effects besides DR/DT
  • Maybe sneak should stay as well

Survival

  • Infection removed or replaced or redone
  • Afflictions revisited in general
  • Severity/stages
  • Recovery conditions
  • Active effects
  • The vanilla food/water/sleep "pools" are timer-based, rather than somehow tied to Nora's activity. The debuffs are extremely gamey instead of being realistic.

Radiation

I see no easy way out honestly. Maybe make it permanent and just replace the character upon critical levels? Of course ties nicely with respawn.

Respawn

Permadeath is not an option. Either knockout or emergency teleport or just straight cloning/fabrication. Saves could be useful as well in case of engine problems, CTDs etc.

Damage mechanics

DT should return and be expanded. Basically the kinetic damage should be split into "piercing" and "bashing", and DT should convert piercing to bashing within its amount. Piercing damage should be treated extremely seriously: a small amount is a wound, more damage or several wounds should cripple the bodypart, making it useless. Wounds overeall should be very detrimental to combat abilities and day-to-day activities and should only heal over considerable time. Some amount of "setting license" could be applied with Auto-Docs or whatnot, but still wounds are no trivial stimpak-treated annoyances. Crippled limbs are somehow even worse.

Bashing damage should in large amounts also count towards crippling, but overall should drain from stamina pool, which if exhausted, knocks player out of combat. Pool size should correlate to actor's mass and Power Armor should probably be made immune to bashing absent some serious cannon calibers.

Mini-nukes should be gone in my opinion.

Also something to consider is Rimworld's pain mechanic, maybe actors go into shock on some pain threshold.

Drugs

The vanilla effects and addiction systems are a bad joke.

  • Effects should have a curve and a much larger time span.
  • Effects should depend on the dosage.
  • Tolerance must be taken into account.
  • Addiction should build over time.
  • Withdrawal effects should have a curve.
  • Withdrawal should change the gameplay, like refusing to rest.
  • Physical withdrawal should resemble reality, like pass over time.
  • If addicted, Nora should take control away from the player upon encountering the agent.
  • (Basically, suffering a moderate+ withdrawal should mean automatic pickup and usage)
  • Either an overdose or "saturation", refusal to take more if already satisfied.
  • Alcohol addiction takes decades to build, why is it there? Maybe a separate trait from the start should exist, but developing it in-game is unbelievable.

MODS THAT SEEM TO WORK

Systems

AAF Hardship

Provides a basis for helpless gameplay. Due to its opionionated nature, may conflict with some aspects of the goals.

AAF Violate

Goes along nicely, providing surrender mechanics.

Damn Apocalypse

While still plentiful, makes resources more scarse.

Sim Settlements et al.

Makes building much more independent, but not entirely.

Knockout Framework

Solid basis for non-lethal combat.

Videos of the Wasteland

With its available library provides at least one way to provide entertainment in game.

Immersion

Start me up

Fuck Shaun. Figuratively.

Fusion Cells are Batteries

(needs more testing)

DEF_UI

Allows to remove most of the HUD. With a simple edit allows to remove the dot as well.

Immersive Fallout

Movement, recoil, zoom.

FallSouls

The world does not stop with you.

VATS Now Immersive

Makes sense.

Myopia Simulator (Immersive Glasses)

Adds challenge and a trait that the player feels.

PIP-Pad

On the one hand breaks immersion by being always available. On the other, is always available.

Questionable

Crime and Punishment

Not clear which of its systems are useful. Kidnappings become old rather quickly.

Ballistic Ammo in Magazines

Half-useful, half-unimmersive.

Alternative start, a second draft

The game plays as normal until the first player death. Nora wakes up and learns that she was made an agent of the Institute Ethics Board, a secret faction within the Institute that seeks to remedy the violence and make the Commonwealth safe. (Optional: and kinky)

Basically upon encountering aggressive factions in time the actors are cleared behind the scenes (it's assumed that the synths were deployed to arrest and imprison the baddies), and hostile wildlife is dealt with in a similar fashion.

Some factions are treated with leadership replacement, including the Institute itself: the board is aware of the Father's condition and suggests Nora to progress with the "kidnapping", with her being a new Director in mind.

This would ideally require some work on the main quests, as to provide non-sociopathic options to resolve or bypass some of them.

Alternative start, a first draft

Upon exiting 111 Nora is made to lose consciousness and wakes up in a cell with a terminal. Her inventory is empty, even the pip-boy is gone. The terminal contains a holotape with pre-war government records about herself.

  • Either she was indeed married to Nate, but Shaun died shortly after birth
  • Or she was married to another woman who was turned away by security and presumably died
  • Or she was not married at all (need to explain the wedding ring) Moreover the records contain her personal assessment.
  • Submissiveness scale
  • Attitude to sex (This gives the player a background to build roleplay upon. There are ways to present this choice, let's for example say that there are several records and the player chooses Nora's one.) Nora interprets this as her real background as opposed to a dream she had while in cryosleep and a state of shock after defrosting. The terminal itself has a mission brief: as an agent of the Institute her orders are to get hired by a pimp and travel the world, keeping observation until further instructions. (Additionally it would make sense to beam her back from time to time for debriefs and medical observation, unless she is a synth after all) Lastly the terminal instructs Nora to put on provided handcuffs (and maybe something else); afterwards she is teleported to a starting location. Nora keeps her dream as a cover story. From time to time she will receive orders to explore certain locations.

Author's notes: we have to take into account several factors:

  • we should probably not mess with 111, let's start after
  • the story should be easy to implement in terms of mod building
  • yet it should feel natural and believable
  • preferrably it should explain the new world and setting
  • it should provide for a challenging start with limited options
  • the above draft is just something that came to mind, I don't insist on any of that and will gladly take suggestions, criticism and indeed alternatives
  • maybe add another faction, even more covert than the others that needs an agent in the field?
  • however the Institute has techs/resources to help already if we want help to be available
  • if we want the main quest to stay available we need to explain Father's actions
  • Codsworth's dialogue is problematic for any alternative narrative
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