I don’t think anyone here is arguing for the elimination of fast travel. It’s not a binary situation. You can have fast travel without compromising your worldbuilding. Am I the only one here who’s played Metal Gear Solid V, Far Cry 2, and Grand Theft Auto V?
And am I the only one who discovered the Vertibird flares and wondered why Bethesda bothered? Bethesda shows no interest in integrating the fast travel system into the game in any meaningful way. Unfortunately, that’s their attitude towards a lot of game systems.
-Tom
Jeebus, you have got to be kidding. I had no idea you could do this. Not that it really matters, but still. Could the settlement stuff have been any more obtuse?
-Tom
Also, you must have an intelligence of 9.
-Tom
Fair enough, but I guess I don’t feel that fast travel compromises the worldbuilding to a degree that bothers me. For those that do have that sentiment could not one follow a self-imposed rule and not use it sort of like an ironman run through Far Cry 2?
Bethesda games (and especially Fallout 4) are a huge cornucopia with options and optional features pouring out and sometimes the presence of so many optional components creates dissonance (enjoyable though). The current narrative is that the optional nature of settlement rebuilding is a small fumble. The presence and state of fast travel is also seen as a mar despite it being just as optional. I say partake, or not, in each depending on your preferred playstyle.
-Todd
If the settlement stuff had been more obtuse, it might have caused a singularity or something. It’s pretty much that bad.
Oghier
2680
The settlement UI and tutorials are awful. You won’t learn how it works in-game; you have to hit up youtube. You’ll find that Bethesda is even inventing completely new windows shortcuts, such as e-clicking (on PC, left-click while holding ‘e’ for “select group.” Seriously. Consoles have similar combinations) I think we all agree that’s a design failure.
The good news is, settlement building is actually quite deep and flexible. I just built a massive tree fort around that big oak in Sanctuary. I learned how from this excellent video, courtesy of Eurogamer:
Murbella
2681
Another one of my settlements is asking me to re-do the quest you get to have them join you in the first place.
Does anyone know if i can just ignore these? From what i can tell from my experiences with another settlement, you just keep getting the same settlement recruitment quest every so often. I don’t think it does anything beyond the initial time.
Murbella
2682
It isn’t actually that deep though once you understand it.
Your settlement design basically means nothing for the most part. The only thing that matters is the numbers. You could put all of your missile turrets in a hole and your settlement would be wonderful.
In some cases enemies can also teleport/spawn inside your base, past your defenses too.
I still do it because i enjoy it, but it sucks that nobody will have to face my super fortress of doom.
Oghier
2683
See… I think I already understand it a bit. When my settlements get raided, the number and placement of turrets matters. The raids aren’t as common or as tough as I’d hope (other than one settlement that keeps getting groups of 10+ supermutants, several with missile launchers), but mods will fix that eventually.
In the meantime, I enjoy building cool tree forts :)
Bateau
2684
Missile launchers are amazing. I saw a deathclaw spawn in the middle of Sanctuary several times now upon my arrival after fast travel. Boy was I glad I put those launchers where I did, in the middle of the village by crafting stations. All it took was one salvo from three launchers to dispose of it and that was on Very Hard. Large miniguns don’t seem to do much in comparison.
Murbella
2685
Well, this is looking like i need to do it as i got a warning that the quest was about to expire.
Hopefully bethesda fixes this bug before i have to do the same settlement recruitment mission a 4th time.
PantsVZ
2686
Been running into a few minor quests to find some object where that object is simply nowhere to be found. I even picked the perk that shows you the route to your objective when in VATS and it’s pointing straight into the ground at this latest point where I am already on the bottom floor. Pisses me off. I swear this perk only works half the time.
I also just had an entire minor “city” turn hostile because of something I did, with no option to talk them down. Must have killed at least 10 “normal” people in their homes, the first time I felt like the mass murderer I obviously am. The role player in me wanted them to have known that they wouldn’t stand a chance, instead of zerg rushing me and basically suiciding.
Bateau
2687
So, regarding Valentine…I’m now 99% sure that his affinity/allegiance/whatever quest is gated behind a certain part of the main quest where he plays a big role because it unlocked the instant I completed it. Now I regret dragging this fucker over half the wasteland when I could’ve used that time to build up the loyalty of my other followers.
So Preston tells me Graygardens needs help. Oh boy, it’s not a simple task at all though. The enemies they need help with are so strong, I finally gave up, went back to Sanctuary to get my Fat Man and Mini Nuke, as well as my Power Armor. Once confidently equipped, I went back…
… only to get my ass kicked again. Power Armor lets me live a little longer, but even a mini-nuke to the face doesn’t kill one of these enemies, let alone a whole group of them, like I thought it would. It looks like I’m just not ready for this at 25 hours/Level 10. The first area that I’ll probably give up on.
Honestly, I thought a mini-nuke would do more damage. I never did use one in Fallout 3, always saving it up for when I really needed it. In Fallout 4, I really needed it, so I used it, and it was worthless.
In a word, no. There are several posts on the front page under the review that articulate why this is the case. But it comes down to the design. Fast travel, or the lack thereof, almost always has to be taken into account at the design level. The same goes for the save anywhere debate.
And I fully accept that my criticism won’t apply for everyone. That goes for pretty much any criticism or praise I level at anything ever. :) One of my favorite responses to a review I write goes something like, “I understand your complaint, but it didn’t bother me personally”. That’s all I ask. That I’m able to articulate my opinion. The goal is never for someone to agree with me!
Now you’re just trolling me.
Yeah, that’s why I’m keeping Fallout 4 installed now that I’ve “finished” it. I imagine mods will realize the full potential of this settlement stuff.
It seems to me that means there’s a cave or basement underneath you. From years of playing games, that would be my professional assessment. The other option is to save and reload the game. At several points in Fallout 4, that managed to shake loose something that was stuck.
-Tom
I don’t have the VANS perk, but I ran into a place where the objective marker was towards the ceiling of a particular room, and I kept going around the whole building and outside the building trying to find a way to that spot. Eventually I found an elevator that took me to a different floor, and that was the solution. I’d run past it a few times, but missed it. It might or might not be a similar case for where you were stuck.
Timex
2691
Choose “move” when you select a settler, and you can send them to any other settlement.
In terms of the issue when you first start a settlement and don’t have access to materials since you don’t have access to the supply lines yet, I tend to just go to another settlement and immediately send a new provisioner to the new settlement, then go back to the new one and it has access instantly. It’s one of the things I use fast travel for.
JFrazer
2692
Unlocked supply lines last night. World of difference, frustration wise. Now I can actually repair my dang armor back in Sanctuary without hauling steel and aluminum with me all the time :)
Thinking of building up The Airport, just for the heck of it. It’s probably the most flexible area for building that I’ve seen so far. Wide open, flat, very few pieces of rubble that you can’t scavenge away. Think it would make a nice blank canvas to design a town around. And with it being close to a BoS base, it will feel like a bustling military base instead of a castle in the middle of nowhere.
tomchick
2693
Would it be a spoiler to warn you that…
not all settlement locations are equal
…you might not want to get attached to the airport?
-Tom
Grifman
2694
Hah, the Fallout 4 strategy guide was the number one best selling non-fiction book in the US last week.
