Dean's Electronics: Repairing Fallout 3
Posted on Thursday, May 21 @ 19:01:28 Eastern by Nick_Tan
Weightlessness
 Fallout 3 takes a lot of liberty making ammunition, even mini-nukes and missiles, weightless. The argument is that It cuts down on having to shuffle around the many types of bullets and shells in the inventory, so even though it doesn’t make sense, streamlining the gameplay is well worth the sacrifice. All video games simplify reality in some way (usually by not discarding half your ammo every time you change clips), and in most cases, that’s exactly what makes them so charming.
However, consistency is the key here. If mini-nukes and missiles have the same meaningless weight as pencils, darts, and bottle caps, then why do tiny grenades and mines (hand ammunition, so to speak) have any weight at all? Sustaining a suspension of disbelief is difficult when a squeeze bottle of Wonderglue weighs more than a thousand shotgun shells. Ignoring the limitations of space as the game does, holding an armory of ammunition on your back should have the same effect as carrying an arsenal of weapons slung invisibly over your shoulder. [Gotta love 1/2 pound packs of cigarettes. ~Ed]
No, what are you looking at?
Why does everyone look at you with that 1000-Yard-Stare whenever you talk to them? Those rigid body movements… those piercing ghost-like eyes… that complete, undivided attention to your conversation that makes you believe that the world has been taken over by androids and that, yes, you are their god. Refining each character’s body language and eye expression to their well-voiced dialogue would remove the plastic veneer off their doll-like faces which seem to be manufactured in the uncanny valley.
And speaking of disconcerting, why does nobody notice that you're talking to them with a gun pointed directly in their face? Do you own a gun? Go try that out and see what happens.
 It would also be more realistic if NPCs weren’t so uppity about everything you do. Treating everyone with some suspicion is healthy, but simply looking at a locked refrigerator, ammunition box, or cabinet doesn’t mean you’re going to steal from it (…now). Nor does lightly kicking a stray tin can mean that you need to “Watch It!” or “Come on, look at what you’re doing!” If you've got a shotgun that's being pointed at their faces, the last thing they should doing is giving you orders.
Brotherhood of Walking
Why should you have to walk all the time? What ever happened to the concept of a tire and human-powered locomotion? Just because it’s the modern-day apocalypse and the roads are in disrepair, doesn’t mean that people have lost the ability to craft a wheel – especially you. If you have enough skill to repair plasma rifles and missile launchers, fashion deadly makeshift weapons out of scantily-written schematics, disarm nuclear warheads, and perform surgical operations, you should have the know-how to find scrap metal and fix one of those motorcycles. You would think that one of the first things travelers, let alone raiders, would do is to improve their mobility. Even without gasoline, people could create bicycles, or, you know, wagons. In fact, Fallout 2 had vehicles as an explanation for fast travel, which in Fallout 3 is a shortcut for superhuman marathon sprinting: Fort Constantine to Rivet City in six hours? Where’s my gold medal?
Water, Water, Everywhere, But Not A Drop From The Sky
When you stop to look at the sky and see the sun blocked by the clouds, you can’t help but wonder why it never rains, despite the processing power it would take to model each water droplet. Nature doesn’t forget precipitation, even if the water is irradiated. Snow, sleet, hail, tornados, acid rain - weather presents one of the greatest challenges, if not the greatest challenge, for survivors of modern fallout. That river doesn't come from nowhere. For those not living near the equator, the cold seasons would be devastating to children, the elderly, and the sick. Dehydration during the hot seasons is also a constant threat considering the lack of drinkable water.
 Having health bars for thirst and hunger (that perhaps drain your HP if they aren’t low enough) may not be the perfect answer, but it would bring the concept of survival to the forefront. Because if there’s anything that Fallout 3 says about health, it’s that you don’t need food or water - all you need are stimpaks. Or mattresses. Of course, constantly digging through dinky refrigerators and first aid boxes for Sugar Bombs and Purified Water would be a hassle. Then again, all the food and water items are already dead weight, set decorations rather than points of attention that would heighten the reality of living in a desolated landscape.
For a game whose main driving force is producing clean, safe water for the future of humanity, the lack of "waters of life" (and your resulting rad-count) needed to have a much higher presence.
Editor's Note: Corpses Should Have Flies
Duke says he’s never seen a corpse without flies. I wouldn’t know. My ninja skill doesn't make corpses; they just disappear.
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