Fallout 4

Honestly, the graphics are basically Fallout 3's art assets with additional effects. I'm not very impressed, but I'm not put off, either. You can apply all the advanced lighting you want, but if you're shining light on a LEGO set, it's still a damn LEGO set.

We've long since hit the limits of the Gamebryo engine, but Bethesda keeps reusing it. I can't believe that the company that bought id Software and John Carmack specifically cannot put out a new, modern, modular, stable, user mod-friendly engine. I refuse to believe it. But it sounds like they didn't even try.

I don't think Bethesda would be willing to license someone else engine..they like their own. Skyrim looked good for its day and even though I think it's somewhat behind tw3 etc..the fact that everything from stimpacs tincans and thousands of other thing are individual 3D rendered models I'm not sure they could find a new engine to do what they want..."every blinky light" and all that.

I'm really not bothered by the graphics not being cutting edge, I find in most games it's a sliding scale of graphics and animations versus gameplay and content. And very few able to hit both. So i'm okay with Fallout 4's graphics as they are. I can see why if you have a cutting edge machine the reason you'd be disappointed, because if a AAA title isn't going to take advantage of your specs then what will?

OK, another one for you guys. Two big frustrations that I'm having, perhaps spoiled by other games that I've been playing.

1) There's no mini map. Playing without it, I've realized how much I depend on it to know where enemies are, how many there are, and if its safe to move into an area. How do you guys handle this? Is there an alternate, or do you just always kind of walk around blind?

2) Loot, and other stuff. I keep hitting the L3 button on my controller, conditioned to do that by both DA:I and TW3, to see where useful things are around me. So far in Fallout, I'm having trouble even finding the corpses of the raiders I kill because all of the colors are so similar and things just blend into the landscape. With Skyrim, this wasn't nearly as much of an issue, because I played as a 2-handed warrior and would just loot a corpse after I killed the enemy, and then move on. That's a lot harder to do when you're shooting numerous guys from a distance. How are you guys handeling this?

I usually walk around blind. I wear headphones so i'll listen to for audio cues. Raiders always say something when they notice your presence. Also, if you sneak you get a general idea of how far away enemies are. means they're right on top of you, [ Hidden ] means nothing is close.

Looting hasn't been much of a problem because it's just so plentiful, not like DA:I where you had to absolutely radar to find the resource nodes. Corpses have been harder to find because they do blend in, but after clearing out an area I'll take my time going over the bodies. Also, if you gib an enemy, any body piece you find will give you access to their inventory.

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

OK, another one for you guys. Two big frustrations that I'm having, perhaps spoiled by other games that I've been playing.

1) There's no mini map. Playing without it, I've realized how much I depend on it to know where enemies are, how many there are, and if its safe to move into an area. How do you guys handle this? Is there an alternate, or do you just always kind of walk around blind?

2) Loot, and other stuff. I keep hitting the L3 button on my controller, conditioned to do that by both DA:I and TW3, to see where useful things are around me. So far in Fallout, I'm having trouble even finding the corpses of the raiders I kill because all of the colors are so similar and things just blend into the landscape. With Skyrim, this wasn't nearly as much of an issue, because I played as a 2-handed warrior and would just loot a corpse after I killed the enemy, and then move on. That's a lot harder to do when you're shooting numerous guys from a distance. How are you guys handeling this?

There is a mini-map in mine...well it is more like a compass. It shows hostile targets who are after you (low, high, or at ground level), as well as key landmarks.

Have you tried calibrating your tv/monitor so that colors don't blend as much? I haven't found blending to be a huge issue for me (or I just remember better where dead bodies should be), or maybe just my expectations are lower than yours.

"Stitches wrote:

There is a mini-map in mine...well it is more like a compass. It shows hostile targets who are after you (low, high, or at ground level), as well as key landmarks.

Have you tried calibrating your tv/monitor so that colors don't blend as much? I haven't found blending to be a huge issue for me (or I just remember better where dead bodies should be), or maybe just my expectations are lower than yours.

Yeah, the compass is ok, but only if you're looking in the direction that they're in, and then its only a general idea. I think that my TV settings are good. Its a 60" LED screen. I think that my expectations are just perhaps high because of the other games and how easy they made it to find things, post battle.

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

Yeah, the compass is ok, but only if you're looking in the direction that they're in, and then its only a general idea. I think that my TV settings are good. Its a 60" LED screen. I think that my expectations are just perhaps high because of the other games and how easy they made it to find things, post battle.

This isn't meant to be an insult towards the quality of your tv, but out of the box settings are very typically poorly configured for the environment in which they're to be regularly viewed, or to replicate accurate colors/contrast/brightness across the entire spectrum (especially skin tones).

That's not to say your settings aren't good, they very well could be, but just because something is a 60" LED screen doesn't mean it is putting out a good picture.

/rant

US Gamer: The 7 best early Fallout 4 mods

Fallout 4 Configuration Tool

Download it here
The most popular entry amongst the selection of early Fallout 4 mods isn't full of big noises and shiny things, but for some people, it vaults the game from "unplayable" to "ahh, much better."

The Fallout 4 Configuration Tool lets you tone and tweak dozens of game settings that are otherwise inaccessible, like resolution and mouse sensitivity. You can also change the color displays for Pip-Boy and VATS, potentially making the action far easier to see for people with vision problems.

The Configuration Tool addresses problems that Bethesda may fix itself over the coming weeks -- or maybe not. Either way, if you need to go in-depth with the game's settings, don't delay on this download.

"Desides wrote:

US Gamer: The 7 best early Fallout 4 mods

You can already change the resolution before launching. :confused:

"Stitches wrote:

This isn't meant to be an insult towards the quality of your tv, but out of the box settings are very typically poorly configured for the environment in which they're to be regularly viewed, or to replicate accurate colors/contrast/brightness across the entire spectrum (especially skin tones).

That's not to say your settings aren't good, they very well could be, but just because something is a 60" LED screen doesn't mean it is putting out a good picture.

/rant

Ok. I'm not good with those things, and im afraid of messing the TV up, because it's been great for everything else.

"Stitches wrote:

You can already change the resolution before launching. :confused:

The default FOV and Y Axis settings are tuned more for consoles than PC, so I had to edit an .INI file to change them up to improve visual and controls. It looks like resolution is there because why not.

For anyone else playing on the PS4, after some searching online, I was able to find that you can holster/put away your weapon by holding the square button. This wasn't anywhere that I could find within the game itself or the guide, and it was frustrating me.

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

Ok. I'm not good with those things, and im afraid of messing the TV up, because it's been great for everything else.

Careful with the calibrations though. They tend to really kill the color levels and contrast to make everything blah. Had mine calibrated and had to manually bring up the contrast and brightness, and play with a few other settings to make it vibrant again. I didn't play with the color levels though, and that's the most important part of the calibration. Before manually changing the calibrated settings watching hockey was bad, the ice and red or green jerseys were particularly dull, along with everything else for that matter.

I'm like 12 hours in, and have yet to reach Diamond City.

"Stitches wrote:

I'm like 12 hours in, and have yet to reach Diamond City.

I'm 10 hours in. I hit Diamond City but didn't really do anything. The area is slightly higher leveled, so I don't think the player is actually supposed to arrive at Diamond City very quickly.

I'm somewhere around 10-12 hours in too, and just got to Diamond City. It was actually the third time I "tried" to go, and got distracted/sidetracked by other things I came across the other two. I was able to actually avoid almost all enemies walking there from Sanctuary during the day.

Up to level 12, and I'm disappointed that there isn't better armor to be bought in the shops there than what I have already. Absolutely making the second level of Armorer my next perk. Just getting destroyed by a lot of the enemies I'm fighting, and I've yet to venture out of the blue areas on that map (mostly staying in the dark blue). A few hits, and I'm down under a third of my HP and need to eat something or use meds. I've been trying to take cover to avoid getting hit, but the game doesn't exactly make it easy like Mass Effect or Uncharted do.

Oh, the mods, they're so delicious.

I ****ing love this game.

Got my rear end handed to me on three seperate missions that I tried tonight. Game is rough. Early missions don't mean easy, that's for sure. Trying to find somewhere that I can find enemies to kill who drop something better than pipe gun ammo, because I'm perpetually low. Ran out with three different guns and got overwhelmed.

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

Got my rear end handed to me on three seperate missions that I tried tonight. Game is rough. Early missions don't mean easy, that's for sure. Trying to find somewhere that I can find enemies to kill who drop something better than pipe gun ammo, because I'm perpetually low. Ran out with three different guns and got overwhelmed.

Need to unlock the perk in the Luck tree that lets you find more ammo.

I was having some trouble earlier in the game, but I seem to have enough now that I'm lvl 15.

"Zeke0123 wrote:

I ****ing love this game.

Honestly... so far, I think Fallout New Vegas is better. I'm still very early into the story, though. I'm spending a lot of time working on settlements. Probably too much. But once you get a beacon up, the Super Mutant attacks start, so you gotta helicopter parent these places.

Speaking of which, the settlements seem to be bugged. I have one with 30 water, which is plenty. I go away, check my Pip-Boy, and it says they have only 1 water and are complaining about it. WTF?

"Stitches wrote:

Need to unlock the perk in the Luck tree that lets you find more ammo.

I was having some trouble earlier in the game, but I seem to have enough now that I'm lvl 15.

Probably a good idea. I'm level 14, and haven't used any of my perks in luck yet.

"Desides wrote:

Honestly... so far, I think Fallout New Vegas is better. I'm still very early into the story, though. I'm spending a lot of time working on settlements. Probably too much. But once you get a beacon up, the Super Mutant attacks start, so you gotta helicopter parent these places.

Speaking of which, the settlements seem to be bugged. I have one with 30 water, which is plenty. I go away, check my Pip-Boy, and it says they have only 1 water and are complaining about it. WTF?

im not sure about the water...I have only done a little to set up sanctuary as a home base and that's about it. I want to get my main a little stronger then take a break from questing and get more in depth.

I had to push through the first 15 hours before I found out why you liked new Vegas so much and I agree it was a great game and much truer to the spirit of the franchise but for now I'm going to rank this one a bit higher because I haven't had 1 second of boredom in this game and the combat is leagues ahead of new Vegas even if f4 seems to have zero dark humor and I miss that.