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Eurogamer: Why I'm tired of Fallout 4 encumbrance

heringer

Member
The encumbrance limit is simply too low for a game with this much loot. I raised to 550 so I don't have to travel back home every half hour or so, while the looting isn't completely braindead since I still pay attention to what I'm picking up.

In practice, I just removed the bother to keep dumping junk into dogmeat.
 

JoeMartin

Member
I'm not that bothered by it but that could be because I played Fallout 3/NV, System Shock 2 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series.


Carrying too much should drain your AP when moving kinda like it does your stamina in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games rather than going 0.1 overweight to cause you to becoming a snail.

Stalker doesn't ask you to pick up asswhacks of loot at every turn. Resources are legitimately scarce.
 
I have clarified my position earlier. Unless you want to get rid of encumbrance for everyone, then I got no beef with you. Feel free to use the console to get rid of the mechanic that bothers you, unless you're on console (use the companion exploit then).

What I'd prefer is for more games to follow Pillars of Eternity and Bravely Default's model of offering a range of sliders or on/off options that let you toggle/alter mechanics to suit your playstyle. If you want to go 100% hardcore (like the people who loved that mode in NV), that sort of thing would be there too.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
The encumbrance limit is simply too low for a game with this much loot. I raised to 550 so I don't have to travel back home every half hour or so, while the looting isn't completely braindead since I still pay attention to what I'm picking up.

In practice, I just removed the bother to keep dumping junk into dogmeat.

The limit is fine. It's an rpg. In rpgs you start out shit and become badass with experience. At the beginning, your limit sucks. Later on, you barely pay attention to it because you can carry a freaking barn.

The game even goes out of its way to give you a shortcut to much higher carrying capacity right outside your starting location: power armor. Wearing power armor (bits or not bits) sets your strength to 11. They put 3 suits right outside Sanctuary :p

I am 100% certain that the people who have issues with the encumbrance system will re-evaluate once they're further in the game and realise that a) they didn't need to pick up everything and b) you can reach absurd capacities without cheating. I'm not saying you all are going to magically reverse your opinions, but at the very least you'll see that encumbrance is totally something you grow into as the game progresses.

What I'd prefer is for more games to follow Pillars of Eternity and Bravely Default's model of offering a range of sliders or on/off options that let you toggle/alter mechanics to suit your playstyle. If you want to go 100% hardcore (like the people who loved that mode in NV), that sort of thing would be there too.

Also not a bad approach. Some sliders to customise your game mode before you go in would be cool. They could add hunger, sleep, durability, encumbrance, iron man, no saving outside of settlements and towns, companion perma-death, lethal radiation, etc.
 
In my game I have collected over 13,000 pieces of junk and I feel actively discouraged from working on other settlements because of how tedious is to have both a weight system and hundreds of items without a way to sort them.


You can get the "Local Leader" perk; this shares contents of your workbenches across all of your settlements.
 
EDIT: Sorry; double post.


Bloodborne didn't have any encumbrance like the Souls games, and I loved it for that.

You're comparing apples and oranges. Bloodborne doesn't have heavy armour, and more importantly, you don't find stuff absolutely everywhere. It doesn't need an encumbrance limit. Fallout 4 does.

If you could pick up everything you see in Fallout 4 with no drawbacks, then you could obtain shitloads of components from scrapping it all/caps for selling it all, which lead to one of two things:

1) The game would be broken, as the game is designed around accumulating components and caps at a particular rate.

2) The game would have been rebalanced around this. Everything would cost a lot more caps/components to buy/build, meaning in order to do anything, you would be *required* you to pick up everything you see in order to accumulate caps/components at the intended rate. This would get tedious fast, and as if that wasn't bad enough, inventory management would be a million times worse, as you'd have shitloads of stuff to go through.


The encumbrance limit is necessary. It's not even a necessary evil. The game benefits from it.
 

rjinaz

Member
It's not really much of a problem with my set up. Power armor and dogmeat and also the lone wanderer perk. I end up being able to carry something like 800 with everything combined.
 

heringer

Member
The limit is fine. It's an rpg. In rpgs you start out shit and become badass with experience. At the beginning, your limit sucks. Later on, you barely pay attention to it because you can carry a freaking barn.

The game even goes out of its way to give you a shortcut to much higher carrying capacity right outside your starting location: power armor. Wearing power armor (bits or not bits) sets your strength to 11. They put 3 suits right outside Sanctuary :p

I am 100% certain that the people who have issues with the encumbrance system will re-evaluate once they're further in the game and realise that a) they didn't need to pick up everything and b) you can reach absurd capacities without cheating. I'm not saying you all are going to magically reverse your opinions, but at the very least you'll see that encumbrance is totally something you grow into as the game progresses.



Also not a bad approach. Some sliders to customise your game mode before you go in would be cool. They could add hunger, sleep, durability, encumbrance, iron man, no saving outside of settlements and towns, companion perma-death, lethal radiation, etc.

You would be right if my carrying limit raised with each level, but that doesn't happen unless you spend the point in strenght. So unless you are playing with a ST focused character, your carrying weight starts shit and ends shit.

Also, people who do change or remove their encumbrance limit are well aware of what they are doing. This is something people do for RPG's on PC since forever, and most people are already far along into the game to know that's exactly how they want to play it. It's condescending and naive to say people will change their opinions later.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
Stalker doesn't ask you to pick up asswhacks of loot at every turn. Resources are legitimately scarce.

No but all those advanced weapons and armor mods don't pay for themselves in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and selling weapons from slain enemies is a reliable source of income.
 

Oni Jazar

Member
I'm not a fan of how Encumbrance is handled in Fallout4 but I feel like giving yourself no encumbrance would kind of break the game. It means that those perks aren't meaningful to you letting you pick other skills, companions are less useful because they don't need to help the burden, you don't need to consider when to leave items behind or keep what's really important. I think it robs some of the experience.
 

KooopaKid

Banned
One on the reasons I never play WRPG. Loot and XP are both artificial and time wasting "mechanics" to me.
Even in Splatoon, but it's very light at least and the core gameplay is strong.
 

Mockerre

Member
Encumbrance in its current form needs to go. It's in that uncomftable space that is neither realistic nor fun. You can carry 20 rifles (breaks immersion), and yet still have a limit (breaks the fun)

I can see a 3-way solution:

1) LOWER your base encumbrance to a realistic number.

2) Expand the 'SETTLEMENT CARAVANS' system. When I pick up an item, let me select which types of items (junk, armor etc. or even specific ones) I want to put in my inventory and which to put on the 'caravan'. When the caravan reaches its weight limit (lets say 500), it starts its 'journey' to your settlement. The journey takes time (so you will get the items a bit later) and can be attacked (you loose some of the items).

This could lead to a whole new gameplay system/perk: reduce caravan journey time, hire guards for the caravans etc.

3) Make the encumbrance influence how many guns you can have EQUIPPED at a given time and make opening the pipboy NOT PAUSE the gameplay. This way you retain the stategic 'what should I have with me factor' and lose the 'I need to get back to base to dump this junk' boring factor.
 
Preach.

I almost want to play this on PC for a mod that removes this crap. I hate having to fast travel so often because I'm full on items. 0.1 weight stopping you from moving sucks, but I guess I did see a perk that lets you fast travel when you are over encumbered.
 

Soodanim

Member
In Fallout 4 there are plenty of ways to increase your carry limit, arguably more than ever. You have the Strong Back perks, the Lone Wanderer perks, followers (even Dogmeat can carry items for you), armour mods (Pocketed and Deep Pocket), strength chems, and power armour. There's even a perk that lets you fast travel when over-encumbered.

If you build your character the right way, that's probably 450 + whatever Dogmeat can carry.

But yeah, you can cut out any of that on PC if you like, even any farming. As messed up as Bethesda games are at times, you can still mod the hell out of them. Personally, I enjoy making characters that have different strengths and weaknesses.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
You would be right if my carrying limit raised with each level, but that doesn't happen unless you spend the point in strenght. So unless you are playing with a ST focused character, your carrying weight starts shit and ends shit.

Also, people who do change or remove their encumbrance limit are well aware of what they are doing. This is something people do for RPG's on PC since forever, and most people are already far along into the game to know that's exactly how they want to play it. It's condescending and naive to say people will change their opinions later.

So let me just see if I understand this correctly. You don't like the carrying limit...but you don't want to put points in the stat that raises your carrying limit?
 

Doc_Drop

Member
3) Make the encumbrance influence how many guns you can have EQUIPPED at a given time and make opening the pipboy NOT PAUSE the gameplay. This way you retain the stategic 'what should I have with me factor' and lose the 'I need to get back to base to dump this junk' boring factor.

God, having the game not pause when you open the pipboy would be hell. I can just see myself now having a look at equipment, maps, quests, and then being sacked by a deathclaw out of nowhere
 

jett

D-Member
I haven't played FO4, but encumbrance has been a pain in the fucking ass in every single game I've played that had it. You often end up doing time-wasting, worthless item management a large portion of your gameplay hours. Just fuck off already with this shit.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
I don't think people like investing skill points into correcting what is essentially poor game design. (talking specifically about the encumbrance mechanic, not the game as a whole).

Oh god yes. I can't shoot shit. I shouldn't have to put points into Perception to fix this poor game design.

Fuck you, stat based rpg!
 

Doc_Drop

Member
A question for those annoyed/struggling with weight management;

- How many weapons are you regularly carrying?
- How many sets/types of armour are you carrying?
- How many aid items with weight are you carrying?
- Are you picking up every piece of junk you see?

I only say this, as when I get over encumbered it's usually my fault because I am not being brutal with my choices of what I'm carrying. If I venture into a newer area, I feel I'm not being smart if I've got more than 150-180lbs on me.
 
Oh god yes. I can't shoot shit. I shouldn't have to put points into Perception to fix this poor game design.

Fuck you, stat based rpg!

Not the same thing. Shooting is a core mechanic of the gameplay. Encumbrance does nothing except make people fast travel back to their base to drop stuff off, which is just time wasting, especially on consoles where the loading times are pretty bad. The game would lose nothing by removing it, or at least making it easier to manage your inventory.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
I don't think people like investing skill points into correcting what is essentially poor game design. (talking specifically about the encumbrance mechanic, not the game as a whole).

The only poor thing I find is how 0.1 lbs can mean the difference between being able to sprint/run and being forced to walk.

The AP acting as a stamina meter once you're over the weight limit seems like a reasonable compromise.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
Not the same thing. Shooting is a core mechanic of the gameplay. Encumbrance does nothing except make people fast travel back to their base to drop stuff off, which is just time wasting.

Exactly the same thing. Looting is a core mechanic of the gameplay.

But let's play by your rules: Shooting does nothing except make people quickload until their head shots hit, which is just time wasting.

Game would lose nothing by removing it, or at least making it easier to kill things.
 

patapuf

Member
I don't think people like investing skill points into correcting what is essentially poor game design. (talking specifically about the encumbrance mechanic, not the game as a whole).

encumbrance isn't a bad mechanic on it's own. Plenty of games are better with encumbrance mechanics.

I mean, i get that some don't like inventory management. That's cool, doesn't make it poor game design.

That said, due to the rest of the game being so simplified the loot management. isn't that meaningful either.
 

smudge

Member
I haven't played FO4, but encumbrance has been a pain in the fucking ass in every single game I've played that had it. You often end up doing time-wasting, worthless item management a large portion of your gameplay hours. Just fuck off already with this shit.

As tedious as the system is, if it didn't exist, there would be no thought by the player on what items to pick up. In a game like fallout you can fill your inventory very quickly. There does need to be a system which restricts the player from just picking up every item available.
To lose this system and allow an infinite player inventory would, in my opinion impact on the immersion of the game.
 
Yep. I used player.modav carryweight 9000 from the get go. I'm currently encumbered by about 2000 pounds of mostly junk, as I haven't been to town in a long time. When I come home from a 10 hour day of work, the last goddamn thing I want to do with my limited game time is sift through FO4s shitty inventory screens. This wasn't a problem in FO3, as I wasn't incentivized to pick up pots, pans, and desk fans like I am now.

I agree that it's cheating, sure. But I also agree that their implementation of carry weight is now flawed because the nature of scavenging has changed in this installment. Cheating or not, I don't see how my method is any more "immersion breaking" or "baby mode" than those who still hoard shitloads of loot but simply dump it in the nearest container near a fast travel location. All I'm doing is cutting out the tedium. Comparisons to RE4 and STALKER are completely off base, as the entire looting dynamic is different.

But whatever, that's why Beth includes console commands. I'll play the way I please, and let others do the same.
 
Exactly the same thing. Looting is a core mechanic of the gameplay.

But let's play by your rules: Shooting does nothing except make people quickload until their head shots hit, which is just time wasting.

Still not the same thing. If shooting were removed, the game would be worse off. Shooting and looting are core mechanics of the game, yes. The amount of space you have to carry things and how your movement is affected when you go over that limit isn't a core mechanic, it's just an arbitrary punishment that adds nothing to the experience. If encumbrance were removed, how would the game be worse off?

Imagine if GTA V or something required you to stop off at a petrol station every X minutes and spend time and money refuelling your car. It adds nothing to the game and removes you from other more enjoyable tasks. It was annoying in Skyrim being like 'Ok, I'm balls deep in a dungeon and how I've hit my carry limit. Either I quit out and drop stuff off at home and have to waste maybe 10 minutes travelling, or I sit here and sort through my inventory for the next 10 minute deciding what's worth keeping'. None of that is fun. If they're dead set on having encumbrance as a thing, then make it better and less tedious to manage. As it stands it doesn't actually affect the difficulty or immersiveness(?) of the game. It's just annoying.
 

jett

D-Member
As tedious as the system is, if it didn't exist, there would be no thought by the player on what items to pick up. In a game like fallout you can fill your inventory very quickly. There does need to be a system which restricts the player from just picking up every item available.
To lose this system and allow an infinite player inventory would, in my opinion impact on the immersion of the game.

The immersion argument.

Because these video games are so realistic.

There doesn't need to be shit. Game developers just need to balance their design accordingly. It's not as if Final Fantasy games are broken because you aren't limited by how much you can carry, aside from carrying 99 of each.

I played The Witcher 2 with a no weight limit mod. It didn't break the game. It didn't affect the so called immersion. It just removed something that was incredibly annoying and that didn't add shit to the game.
 

AlphaDump

Gold Member
Well u need to have a strategy and prioritization with gear. Using a copartner to hold extra gear is a good option. U can even take Buffout if u really need to. I take 3 weapons with me, drop all junk at my work station as a repository. Otherwise it is truly braindead, press x to win. It isnt a loot simulator, despite what people do in the game.
 

Dunkley

Member
The encumbrance limit is simply too low for a game with this much loot. I raised to 550 so I don't have to travel back home every half hour or so, while the looting isn't completely braindead since I still pay attention to what I'm picking up.

In practice, I just removed the bother to keep dumping junk into dogmeat.

The emcubrance limit is completely fine. I have a limit of 240 and can well carry my 10 weapon arsenal, my own and plenty of gear I looted, aid and an appropriate number of junk.

It's working completely fine if you aren't expecting your character to carry 3 sets of power armor, the entirety of your settlement workshop, 30 different weapons and still be able to run.

However, I agree there should be an option to turn it off if you don't care about that. I think it'd very well tie into difficulty and being increased/decreased depending on difficulty.
 

Teletraan1

Banned
It wasn't so much a problem in previous games because the JUNK didn't matter, just drop. Now that EVERYTHING can be used for crafting and settlement building it is becoming a pain trying to figure out what to drop.

I wish I had a pack Brahmin following me around.

Just drop the stuff that you know you have a lot of. In your inventory screen it tells you what each item breaks down to. Sory by weight and dump the heavy things that only provide steel/wood or whatever you have in abundance. I have 5/7k of each of those materials. I always set certain materials that are rare for search. Author is just not using the game systems wisely and complaining. OP is right. These games are dumbed down enough already. Plus there is a console command and I am pretty sure a mod....why an article was created for this is beyond me. I would rather have seen an article bemoaning the lack of a screen that tells you what your settlers are doing rather than an easily avoidable gameplay mechanic.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
Still not the same thing. If shooting were removed, the game would be worse off. If encumbrance were removed, how would the game be worse off?

Imagine if GTA V or something required you to stop off at a petrol station every X minutes and spend time and money refuelling your car. It adds nothing to the game and removes you from other more enjoyable tasks.

To you, removing the limitations on shooting would obviously make the game worse. To you that's fact, and I should obviously be able to see why. Right? That I can't is probably strange or dumb to you.

To me, removing the limitations on looting would obviously make the game worse. To me that's a fact, and you should obviously be able to see why. That you can't is strange and dumb to me.

You see what I'm saying here? What I consider a basic, core part of the experience and what you consider a basic, core part of the experience is obviously different.
 
The whole inventory system in Fallout is terrible. Any game that has me looking through every single fucking nook and cranny and having to read every item in each container and making a decision concerning each one is a badly designed game.

No matter how much fun the rest of it is it does not make up for such a shitty mechanic.
 
To you, removing the limitations on shooting would obviously make the game worse. To you that's fact, and I should obviously be able to see why. Right? That I can't is probably strange or dumb to you.

To me, removing the limitations on looting would obviously make the game worse. To me that's a fact, and you should obviously be able to see why. That you can't is strange and dumb to me.

You see what I'm saying here? What I consider a basic, core part of the experience and what you consider a basic, core part of the experience is obviously different.

No I don't see what you're saying. All you're saying is it would make the game worse but with no explanation why. Removing shooting would make the game worse because it cuts out a massive part of the combat and interactivity of the game. Removing or changing the encumbrance system doesn't do anything like that.
 

Doc_Drop

Member
Still not the same thing. If shooting were removed, the game would be worse off. Shooting and looting are core mechanics of the game, yes. The amount of space you have to carry things and how your movement is affected when you go over that limit isn't a core mechanic, it's just an arbitrary punishment that adds nothing to the experience. If encumbrance were removed, how would the game be worse off?

There would be literally no consequence to carrying every single type of gun, armour, aid under the sun. You shouldn't be able to carry a minigun, a fatman, a missile launcher, a flamer, a shotgun, a sniper rifle, a sledgehammer, power armour, combat armour, raider armour, etc etc.

I mean don't get me wrong, I will indulge in a fair amount of godmode-simulator once I've finished the game a few times properly. But why have the game like that from the get-go? The item management is a game of choice, it's how the developer intended it.

The whole inventory system in Fallout is terrible. Any game that has me looking through every single fucking nook and cranny and having to read every item in each container and making a decision concerning each one is a badly designed game.

No matter how much fun the rest of it is it does not make up for such a shitty mechanic.

Doesn't really sound like you want to play (the newer) Fallouts then as this has been a major component of the game since FO3
 

Alucrid

Banned
The whole inventory system in Fallout is terrible. Any game that has me looking through every single fucking nook and cranny and having to read every item in each container and making a decision concerning each one is a badly designed game.

No matter how much fun the rest of it is it does not make up for such a shitty mechanic.
I only loot ammo, legendary items or items I marked. Maybe stop trying to bring everything when most of it is useless anyways?
 

dity

Member
Not the same thing. Shooting is a core mechanic of the gameplay. Encumbrance does nothing except make people fast travel back to their base to drop stuff off, which is just time wasting, especially on consoles where the loading times are pretty bad. The game would lose nothing by removing it, or at least making it easier to manage your inventory.
Item collection and management is a core part of games like this. Without it, this would essentially just be a game like Call of Duty or Battlefield but with a whole shitload of more items.

Honestly, without encumbering the whole game breaks. Want infinite caps? There you can just sell the tons and items on your person. Now you can hold 999 ammo of every weapon that you bought with the tons of sold stuff. May as well just carry every weapon while you're at it and a lot of replacement power armour parts. You're basically a walking army. There's no longer any danger. Defeats the purpose of the genre for me, which is why I don't use the console to hack my weight limit. Situations that would normally make me go "ah!" would then be nothing - there's no potential for panic, no point in strategy, no point in having a play style that suits you.
 

bomblord1

Banned
Just because a mechanic is old doesn't mean it's bad. Having no restrictions or difficulties in an experience dilutes the payoff.

Also something is to be said here about the modern instant gratification mindset
 
There would be literally no consequence to carrying every single type of gun, armour, aid under the sun. You shouldn't be able to carry a minigun, a fatman, a missile launcher, a flamer, a shotgun, a sniper rifle, a sledgehammer, power armour, combat armour, raider armour, etc etc.

I mean don't get me wrong, I will indulge in a fair amount of godmode-simulator once I've finished the game a few times properly. But why have the game like that from the get-go? The item management is a game of choice, it's how the developer intended it.

Item management is fine, but not as it is at the moment. Being 0.1 over your limit and suddenly being rooted to the ground is an awful system, especially since inventory management doesn't exactly flow well in bethesda games. If they made it easier to sort your inventory, rank your weapons/armours etc then it would be an easier pill to swallow.

Item collection and management is a core part of games like this. Without it, this would essentially just be a game like Call of Duty or Battlefield but with a whole shitload of more items.

There are better ways to manage it I'm sure. Other games have encumbrance/carry limits yet Bethesda games are the only games where this bothers me. I don't like their approach to it. It's tedious and does nothing but waste time. It has no real affect on the actual gameplay aside from forcing me to return to base every so often.

I'm not sure why people are implying that the only two options available are this system, or a system where you can just carry everything you pick up.
 

smudge

Member
The immersion argument.

Because these video games are so realistic.

There doesn't need to be shit. Game developers just need to balance their design accordingly. It's not as if Final Fantasy games are broken because you aren't limited by how much you can carry, aside from carrying 99 of each.

I played The Witcher 2 with a no weight limit mod. It didn't break the game. It didn't affect the so called immersion. It just removed something that was incredibly annoying and that didn't add shit to the game.

Immersion has nothing to do with being realistic.
If the game allowed infinite inventory then you would no longer feel like you were scavenging because you can just take everything. There is no choice to be made. Its the choice of what to loot and when to loot which adds to the immersion.
It impacts on immersion because there are less choices the player has to make. Balancing choice is important of course, obviously if you don't like it you can mod it but as a core element, in game like Fallout encumbrance needs to be included
 

Doc_Drop

Member
Item management is fine, but not as it is at the moment. Being 0.1 over your limit and suddenly being rooted to the ground is an awful system, especially since inventory management doesn't exactly flow well in bethesda games. If they made it easier to sort your inventory, rank your weapons/armours etc then it would be an easier pill to swallow.

You can rank items by damage, value, etc. The fact that you are riding the line between bloated and over encumbered is on you tbh. You should know when you are a few items before hitting your weight limit. My first thought is always 'I'm carrying to much shit' when I go over.

I only loot ammo, legendary items or items I marked. Maybe stop trying to bring everything when most of it is useless anyways?

This
 
You can rank items by damage, value, etc. The fact that you are riding the line between bloated and over encumbered is on you tbh. You should know when you are a few items before hitting your weight limit. My first thought is always 'I'm carrying to much shit' when I go over.

Yes, and then I have to either sit and sort through my inventory deciding what's worth keeping, or waste time traveling back to my base. That's my point, neither of those options are fun in a game where looting and exploring is one of the main appeals.
 

patapuf

Member
Item management is fine, but not as it is at the moment. Being 0.1 over your limit and suddenly being rooted to the ground is an awful system, especially since inventory management doesn't exactly flow well in bethesda games. If they made it easier to sort your inventory, rank your weapons/armours etc then it would be an easier pill to swallow.



There are better ways to manage it I'm sure. Other games have encumbrance/carry limits yet Bethesda games are the only games where this bothers me. I don't like their approach to it. It's tedious and does nothing but waste time. It has no real affect on the actual gameplay aside from forcing me to return to base every so often.

I'm not sure why people are implying that the only two options available are this system, or a system where you can just carry everything you pick up.

I'm sure everyone can agree that the UI's in Bethestha games suck. There's a reason they are among the first and most popular mods on PC.
 

Teletraan1

Banned
Item management is fine, but not as it is at the moment. Being 0.1 over your limit and suddenly being rooted to the ground is an awful system, especially since inventory management doesn't exactly flow well in bethesda games. If they made it easier to sort your inventory, rank your weapons/armours etc then it would be an easier pill to swallow.

The inventory screen provides you with all you need to know. You can sort by all kinds of factors and you can set certain components for search so you get a magnifying glass icon next to the item so you know it has some sort of worth (to you) right away. I don't really see how much easier they could make it.

I'm sure everyone can agree that the UI's in Bethestha games suck. There's a reason they are among the first and most popular mods on PC.

They aren't the greatest but they are serviceable and provide you with enough info. I think the reason they (UI mods) were popular in Skyrim and will be in fallout 4 is because they are designed around using a controller. If you are using a M/KB they are much harder to navigate for no real reason. For instance it is much easier to press Square and then X on a DS4 than it was to press R then ENTER to scrap an item using the default keybindings. Shit like this just drives people to mods right away.
 
The game gives you tons of loot and compensate through encumbrance.
If they remove the encumbrance in Fallout 5, they would have to cut the loot by a factor of 10. Since people are cheating anyway, I don't really see the point.

In Fallout New Vegas, I established several bases where I stockpiled what I looted.
That was possibly the only strategic element of the entire game.
For a given mission I would equip myself with a particular type of weapons.
That was kinda like the prelude in the mission impossible tv series.

The modern Fallout games are ridiculously easy but the modern PC gamer loves "click to win". I'm sure there's mods that give you max stats and unlimited ammo.
Me, I like challenge in my games.
 

dity

Member
There are better ways to manage it I'm sure. Other games have encumbrance/carry limits yet Bethesda games are the only games where this bothers me. I don't like their approach to it. It's tedious and does nothing but waste time. It has no real affect on the actual gameplay aside from forcing me to return to base every so often.

I've been playig RPG games since I was a kid and I'm honestly not so sure how everyone is making it out like inventory management here is different to any other game with inventory management. Is it because there's a lot of submenus and not a straight sortable list?

Sometimes it just feels like there's a prejudice.

Also, I'm not forced to go back to base every so often because I only pick uo what I require for mods or settlements. I don't pick up absolutely everything. I mean - you don't have to. You're not supposed to. Otherwise you feel the encumbrance. That's why it's that way.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
No I don't see what you're saying. All you're saying is it would make the game worse but with no explanation why. Removing shooting would make the game worse because it cuts out a massive part of the combat and interactivity of the game. Removing or changing the encumbrance system doesn't do anything like that.

Ok. So where I'm at in the game right now, removing shooting and just killing thing when I point at them would matter little. I kill anything in 1 shot. The act of pointing and clicking my mouse is a formality/busy work at this point. So just like you feel encumbrance can be removed since the act of quick traveling is just a formality/busy work.

Encumbrance does the following:
- Gives weight and meaning to your looting. Without it, you'd simply rapid fire the pickup button as you strafe around empty locations. The act of scavenging becomes meaningless. You become a human vacuum machine.
- Kicks immersion in the ass. Granted, the game has you suspending your disbelief every 5 seconds, but I'd like to hold on to every last bit of immersion I can.
- Makes sense in a stat based system. You have stats for your other physical attributes, why not your physical ability to carry stuff?
- Assists in character progression and the feeling of development. At level 1 you can't carry shit. At level 50 my character can carry just shy of 600 pounds. When I can casually haul off a shitton of steel, it feels like my character has actually come a long way.
- To a lesser degree, is part of the survival aspect. FO4 likes to refer to 'The Wasteland', and the harder it is to survive the more that comes across.

To me it's a core part of these kinds of games.
 
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