Fallout 4

[Unionhack]

Ask and ye shall receive. Here are a few tours of some of my better settlements, plus a look inside the bar of Sunshine Tidings (which is otherwise pretty underdeveloped).

Tour of New Sanctuary (Sanctuary Hills)

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YouTube Link

Tour of The Town of Abernathy (Abernathy Farm)

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Tour of the Sunshine Bar (Sunshine Tidings Co-Op)

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YouTube Link

Tour of Spectacle City (Spectacle Island)

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YouTube Link

Fun fact about Spectacle City, it took about 600 units of copper to build, and about 30 large power generators. 16 of said generators go towards powering up the lightbox Heart Container. It's my monument to Curie. <3

My settlements are really sporadic. They either have 5 settlers or 20. I'm still working on getting people to move to Spectacle City so it can become a proper city!

[DorostheConqueror]

Those are neat; you seem to have a penchant for building very large block houses, and pixel art is rare to see (hopefully patches and/or mods will fix the absurd power requirement).

By the way, the new dedicated Settlement thread is open, so you might want to post your video tours there: http://forums.uesp.net/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=39484

[Dirty Spaceman]

I got the game for Christmas and I've played for about 9 hours so far (subtracting my estimated character creation time from game-logged time). I'm level 9, have unlocked 4 settlements/workshops (only 3 that actually have people though), and haven't even reached Diamond City yet. Every time I decide to set out for it, I end up getting sidetracked by some other quest. Most recently it was when I ran into the BOS in Cambridge. But I'm working my way there.

Also I don't think I've consumed a single addictive chem yet. Maybe I'll try to go the whole game without using any and call it a DARE run.

[Unionhack]

I was level 33 when I got to Diamond City for the first time in my current run. c:

I'm currently level 67 on the same run and I'm maybe 1/5th through the main quest.

[DorostheConqueror]

I can't remember when I got to Diamond City, but I doubt I was below level 15. IIRC, I'd heard that there were a few companions to unlock in Diamond City, so I made it a point to go there a little bit quote-unquote "early", but I didn't really start doing Diamond City/Main quests in earnest until I was around level 30 or so. In fact, I STILL haven't finished the main quest, and I'm now... what? Level 87 or so? There's a lot to do, and you'll get sidetracked constantly; don't worry, that's normal!

I rarely/never used chems on my first character, a guy who's specced for stealth; ninjas just don't need chems to succeed, because any time you encounter an enemy, you either withdraw, or you roflstomp them with a one-shot kill. However, I've been testing out some other kinds of builds, and I've discovered that chems are actually very useful depending on three factors: a) how high the difficulty level is (higher difficulty means a lot more pressure to use chems), b) how quickly you're trying to rush through the main quest (enemies will spawn at minimum levels per region, so if you haven't spent time leveling up through side missions, you'll find that encounters get incredibly tough as you go further south) and c) the amount of time you spend going toe-to-toe with opponents (stealth characters have an easier time surviving, melee characters not so much). My no-stealth/heavygun/tank character is basically reliant upon Psychobuff and Jet to keep going, particularly in large battle situations.

[Dohva.]

So, uh...on my now second play through:

Spoiler:

I'm level 53 and have been focusing mostly on settlement building/doing stuff for the Railroad. I haven't even so much as built the tower to get to the Institute...and they're already attacking the Castle. Weird. I'm assuming that if you get to a certain point with the Minutemen then that's when it happens. :/

By the way, Deacon is my new bff. He and Chloe have some cheeseball mutual admiration going. She reached peak status with him while taking out a bunch of mirelurks. It looks like companions can respect you from watching you in battle, since he's the 3rd companion that's happened with. The first was Cait when I was emptying out a minigun on a Mirelurk Queen, and the second was Preston taking out raiders. Anyway, I sent Piper to live on the island so there would be enough room for Deacon to live with me at Sunshine Tidings. Move over, MacCready....

[DorostheConqueror]

Companions gain affinity gradually over time; I haven't tested this, but I'd assume that if you left your game running for twenty hours straight, you could max relations without lifting a finger. It's nice that they included that, too, because otherwise I'd never have been able to befriend Strong.

Deacon is awesome. Does anyone know (end game spoiler)

Spoiler:

if you can keep him alive, despite siding against the RailRoad? I'm seriously considering going the Institute route, because [&@%!], it's my family, and if they're just going to hand over all their tech to me, why wouldn't I side with them? The Institute are [&@%!] in the beginning of the game, but if I am made Director, I could easily use my position of authority to reshape the Institute according to my own vision - stop the kidnappings, liberate the Gen IIIs, give Gen I and IIs to the Commonwealth settlements already in my empire, etc etc

I'm fine betraying the Brotherhood, because while the Brotherhood has been an ally so far, it's a shaky alliance at best (particularly after all that nonsense with Danse), and I feel that war between them and the Minutemen will be inevitable someday. And I guess I could live with nuking the Railroad, because while I am certainly in favour of synth-lib, I think Desdemona is anti-human and extremely dangerous. I wouldn't want to kill Tinker Tom or Glory (ideally, I'd try to convince them to help me create my synth-friendly anarcho-Institute, ultimately pitting the New Railroad against the Old), but I think I'd be willing to accept their deaths as part of the bitter cost of freedom. I would NOT, however, be willing to kill Deacon. He's easily my third or fourth favorite companion, and I don't want him to turn on me.

You should post some of your new settlements in the Settlement thread!

[Dohva.]

Doros,

Spoiler:

I'm assuming he turns against you. I read somewhere that happens with Danse, so it's probably the same. I just cannot side with the Institute...even if it is my son. There's just such a huge responsibility that comes with being General and it's something I take seriously. Besides, the Institute has caused a lot of damage in the Commonwealth. They're responsible for the mutants in the area, kidnapping and replacing people with synths (like Warwick), not to mention slavery of their synths. It's too much to live with having to kill all your friends and people that help you find Shaun.

And speaking of Shaun, he's simply using you. Big time. After numerous conversations with him where he shows pretty much zero emotion for his own mother and the death of his father, only caring about the Institute and willing to turn against Chloe when she told him that she didn't think she could lead the scientists...uh...to hell with you, son. He's a terrible person and she has the weight of the Commonwealth on her shoulders. She lost him the moment he was kidnapped.

Not to mention that she can't turn against Deacon because I'm in love with him.

I'll have to post some settlement pics once I get them more spiffy. Sunshine Tidings now has artillery so I had to make room for that by taking down crops. I have like over 20 settlements now, most of them are between 6-10 people. Keeping them small (for now) has been a boon to balancing them all. My largest settlements of over 13 people are Sanctuary, Sunshine, Castle, Spectacle, Starlight, Jamaica Plains, and Croup Manor.

[DorostheConqueror]

Ah, but you're forgetting

Spoiler:

that little brat is on his way out! He's dying of cancer, and won't be around for long regardless of what you do. True, Shaun would be a problem, IF siding with the Institute meant dealing with Shaun for the foreseeable future. But it doesn't. Assuming you don't kill Shaun the moment you see him, it doesn't take long before he just offers the Institute up to you, free of charge. Why would you pass on a jackpot like that?!

As you can probably tell from my Settlement AAR, I'm Minutemen all the way. General Cranston takes his duties very seriously indeed. But the resources of the Institute would be a godsend for the Minutemen, and I'd have to be mad to blow it all up, deadbeat son or not.

My longterm vision is less Institute than it is Minutemen-controlling-Institute, of course. I'd forbid Institute scientists from forcing any utopian-collectivist agenda on the free peoples of Massachutsets, and I'd probably stop manufacturing Gen III synths, on the grounds that I have no intention of "replacing" freewilled Commonwealth humans with a more docile slave-race. I'd offer freedom to any synth who wanted it, keep the rest working as our servants, and then redirect the Institute's priorities towards fields like water purification, biotech, computer science, power generation, and vehicular engineering - with the eventual goal of reclaiming ever wider swathes of territory beyond our borders. We could be a force to rival the Brotherhood of Steel or even those [&@%!], the NCR, spreading John Hancock's vision of freedom, justice, and chems to the Capital Wasteland and beyond!

OR, we could blow up our prize for no good reason, and hope a rad-winter doesn't ruin next year's Tato harvest.

[Dohva.]

Does anyone know if your settlements get attacked more frequently the higher level you are? I'm level 56 and my settlements are constantly getting attacked. So much that it's gotten in the way of me doing anything except defending them, basically. In one hour session, 4 of my settlements got hit. I do have a lot of them though; maybe that's the problem? Just wondering if anyone knew since I'm having difficulty doing quests or exploring without having to pay the price if I choose to not defend my towns.

[DorostheConqueror]

For Settlement Attack missions, I think it's just the Defense rating. You want to have a defense rating equal to least the sum of your food, water, and population; e.g. a settlement with 10 residents, 30 food, and 40 water should have an 80 defense minimum. Doubling the defense seems to eliminate attacks entirely (or at least make them so rare you can forget about them). Note - the game only takes into account the numerical rating for all the defenses you've set up, not their placement, so you could build a single sealed room and stuff it with a dozen missile launchers, if you wanted to.

Also, anecdotally, it seems as though some quests might drop off in frequency after a certain point in the main quest. I say this because, early in the game, I was CONSTANTLY getting Minuteman Radiant Quests (like one every time I walked into a settlement, sometimes three or four quests in a row from the same settlement), but now that I've completed 95% of the main storyline, I can't seem to trigger Minuteman missions anymore, even if I want them. That could also be a function of defense, or possibly even a recent patch, but it's something to consider.

[Baloth-Kul]

It seems to me that you just need a few more defense than the highest of ANY ONE of your resources, to deter attacks. I can have 10 of everything, and...say, 16 defense, and that place is usually wholly untouched. It's only when I have, like, 10 residents, 22 water, 10 food, and 16 defense that it's a problem.

Junk fences. You want junk fences. Fence off every important square inch of your settlements. Fences don't prevent enemy spawns, of course, but they keep your settlers alive. When The Slog gets swarmed by missile launcher toting Super Mutants, people die. ...When there are 3 in the pool, and the rest of them are spread out, around the outside of the junk fences, we survive just fine.

And note that I said "important" square inches of your settlements. If you were to barricade every bit of the perimeter of Spectacle Island, you would probably be at or over your build limit. I fence off the areas that settlers actually use/inhabit, and that I use. Open, unused ground that you have no plans for can fend for itself.

[all_freed]

i saw a video on a settlement by alchestbreach and he had like 10-15 settlers and like a dozen turrets but the place still got attacked. that's funny because as soon as he fast traveled to the camp the enemies died in a few seconds.

[Kerr]

It's nice to know that someone has finally modded in an important feature that Fallout 4 was sorely missing.

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YouTube Link

[Baloth-Kul]

Somewhat relevant.

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[Dohva.]

^Nice! And speaking of him (also Deacon spoilers):

Spoiler:

I finally completed Blind Betrayal. Scribe Haylen didn't need to get so worked up--I was on his side the entire time. There was no way that I was going to kill Danse. Also, it can be said that Chloe has gone AWOL from the Brotherhood (if that's even possible). The whole thing served to prove the point that even though human-like synths are machines, they still act in empathetic ways, still are programmed to feel, and are about as dangerous as human beings are.

Deacon's past was another reason why I'll be siding with the Railroad for reals this time. He fell in love with a synth and had a life carved out with her. Synths affect humans by interacting with them, something Danse pointed out during his conversation with Chloe. Sure, they're machines but still experience identity and act out in free will, which is why so many of them escape. They go on to have relationships with people and become members of Commonwealth society. Robots or not, they have an impact on their surroundings.

I caught wind that the Brotherhood may want the Railroad killed, so I'm never going back to the Prydwen. Not sure how this will end yet.

And in regards to Shaun and the Institute:

Spoiler:

I know he's my son, but the way he dismisses the people of the Commonwealth has left a bad taste in my mouth. The Institute has technology that could save a lot of people; yet they hide away, keeping it to themselves, and instead of helping are actually harming by kidnapping people and replacing them with synths, well as the Super Mutants they created (which kill people in the Commonwealth on the regular).

He's wrong when he says that the Institute is humanity's best hope. He also has no emotion when it comes to his parents, and turned on Chloe in a heartbeat the moment she expressed doubt about helping the Institute. That's not family love...and so if he doesn't feel that way, then she has to rethink what's right for the people of the Commonwealth.

They just want to survive in peace. Live on their little farms and have a chance at a real life. Shaun doesn't get that. Neither does the Brotherhood.

When you talk with him at the C.I.T. ruins, he tells you that he released you from the vault. Instead of having his people find you, he leaves you out there to die and comments on your survival as if human beings are some entertaining scientific experiment. He put you in Kellog's path knowing full well his last surviving parent could be killed. He sends synths and coursers to attack settlements (the Castle), not caring if innocents die. His only love in life is the Institute--not his flesh and blood. He lacks complete empathy for all the heartbreak his parent has gone through, and the death of the other.

Sorry, kid. I'm not on your side anymore.

Woops. Guess I'm enemies with the Brotherhood Of Squeal. A mentat & bourbon shortage led to some hot tempers inside the Cambridge Police Station and I couldn't handle Rhys & Haylen's attitudes anymore. MacCready took half the place down with his shredder minigun. The Brotherhood needed to go. Big time.

P.S.
A MacCready discovery:

Spoiler:

while at the Boston Airport, he made a comment that he'd never seen a plane before and that the only time he'd ever "flown" or gotten high was when he took a hit of psycho. Because my Chloe aims to please and she listens to her people, she gave him some psycho, which was gone the next time they traded items. So...how come you get all upset when she takes her pills but psycho is okay? LOL

[all_freed]

About your Father

Spoiler:

Shaun was indoctrinated by the institute. I'm so sad someone took our child away and twisted him into a evil thing

btw did anyone notice that the missing sons in Mintority Report movie and Heavy Rain game are also calld Shaun too?!

[Dohva.]

In case anyone is wondering about Danse's loyalty if you turn against the Brotherhood:

Spoiler:

Not sure if this is because I became enemies with them before completing the main quest, but Danse lives on Spectacle Island and he won't adventure with me. The most I can do is trade items with him and no dialogue choices come up. Basically, he's cut me off. Oh, well. At least he can spend the rest of his days helping the settlers there since he stands guard by the beach. Whatever, I regret nothing.

[legoless]

Is anyone else disappointed with Fallout 4? Feels like Minecraft with guns to me, and the dialogue system really killed any RPG elements it had left.

I'm still gonna play through it—it's not a bad game by any stretch—but things are looking pretty grim for TESVI.

[Dohva.]

I love the game, actually, and enjoy the dialogue system. It's interactive and the voiced protagonist gives my character life. As far as being a rpg goes...it's a mixture. Adventure with rpg elements. It's just like with anything: some people like it, some people don't. There are some things about it that bother me, it's not a perfect game by any stretch, but the settlement building is fun as hell, battles and enemy AI have gotten tons better, follower relations are improved, and the game is truly a good time. Honestly, I think Fallout 4 is great and I look forward to TESVI.

[Vilhelm Valhalla]

[Deleted]

[legoless]

Tangentially, the voiced protagonist isn't horrible, and I've been able to roleplay in spite of an "established" character backstory.

I have to disagree. I tried to keep an open mind about the voiced protagonist, but it's been shockingly detrimental to the RPG experience so far. I have no idea what my character is going to come out with every time I enter dialogue, and the only options are 'overtly moral' or 'sarcastically moral'. Aside from picking a different gender, I can't see how you could ever hope to develop a significantly different character on a second playthrough.

I love the game, actually, and enjoy the dialogue system. It's interactive and the voiced protagonist gives my character life.

I can understand the second voice giving life to a conversation, but interactive it is not. I've never seen a more railroaded system in an RPG before.

[Unionhack]

I have, try JRPGs every once in a while.

In any case, while I think the voiced protagonist could have been done a little better, I still liked it, and the combat is easily the best of the Fallout series so far (don't even suggest FO1 and 2, they were like a poor man's Baldur's Gate) and it's simply a blast to play. The RPG elements might be a bit (I said a bit) dimished, but all in all it's how you play and how you can do some of the work yourself with your imagination.

All in all I love playing it, and as far as I'm concerned that's bottom line for me.

[MetaCthulhu]

Has anybody come out with a mod that mutes the PC and adds fallout 3 style dialogue boxes?

(Not that I have a horse in this race, I just liking having my options open)

[Dohva.]

the only options are 'overtly moral' or 'sarcastically moral'. Aside from picking a different gender, I can't see how you could ever hope to develop a significantly different character on a second playthrough.

Um...go back to Skyrim and look at the dialogue options. In Fallout, you get 4. In Skyrim, you get 1-3 (unless you're silent in the Brotherhood quests). All of those options are moral, jerk off, or neutral. I don't see any difference there, really. There are more dialogue options in Fallout and yes, it is interactive when you can converse with npcs while hearing and seeing your protagonist talk. Your choices and dialogue affect others' opinions of you, and they'll tell you. That's pretty interactive. Of course, this doesn't work for everyone, but it's definitely grown on me to the point where dialogue in Skyrim seems 'meh' now. And there's plenty of playthrough options by creatively approaching the game from various angles. For sure, this game is very different from other rpgs (and I agree that the rpg portion of it has been taken down a notch) but it's still possible to do.


Cthulu: I read that a mod is supposed to bring that back as an option, not sure when that will be yet. Keep an eye out for it though.

EDIT: Not sure what sex you guys are playing as, but I think the female voice is better than the male's. She shows a lot of emotion in her voice, especially when you

Spoiler:

find Shaun

. I've watched my husband play his male protagonist and yawned at some of the things he says, because his voice is rather monotone.