Fallout 4 : Early gameplay queries (no spoilers)

[DanielCoffey]

I have a few questions about the early gameplay in FO4 that I would appreciate assistance with. I posted in the official forums but my query got drowned in the noise.

 

1. Rad Storms.

 

In the very early game I was unfortunate enough to be caught in the settlement with my former house when the weather turned awful and the rad/lightning storm hit. I instinctively went indoors but the ruined buildings offered no protection. I briefly considered retreating to the vault until it passed but logged out to search online for information. When I logged back in, the weather was fortunately different.

 

How are we expected to mitigate the effects or shelter from a rad storm? I know the vault suit has a little rad protection (compared to, say, civilian clothes) but it is insufficient. If the storms return in an area you are using as a player-made settlement, how can you shelter from the effects?

 

How long do these storms go on for? If they are very brief and, say, give a certain rad dose then we can stockpile the appropriate medication or foods.

 

2. Companion Health

 

By default on the medium game difficulty levels, are our Companions flagged as Essential or can they be killed by enemy fire? Since I can't see a Companion health bar, do I just have to deduce from their appearance (clean vs bloody) or limping that they are hurt? How quickly out of combat do they heal to full again?

 

3. Ammunition.

 

I see there is no ammo bench in the game (which is an odd retreat from F:NV) and there does not appear to be a mechanism for crafting ammo (although you CAN make grenades/molotovs etc.). Are the only sources of the higher calibre ammo from vendors, NPCs and caches? I am talking about things like .308 and similar. I have seen several pipe rifles drop on raiders but I only have 10 rounds whereas 10mm and .38 are very, very plentiful at the start.

 

4. Respawning and Safe Containers.

 

As I accumulate clutter, I would like to store it. At the moment I have crafted a couple of metal boxes and put them next to the Power Armor frame in Sanctuary. I would assume that player-made containers are safe but what about the ones that are alread on the walls in the settlemnts? There is a wall cupboard and a toolbox there too. Will they respawn? Do the pesky molerats at the Red Rocket respawn too (both the initial ones and those in the cave) or are they once-only encounters? I see folks building bases there and would hate to have the ratties as neighbours.

 

5. Accessing the Console (on a PC).

 

I have difficulty accessing the console with my dasKeyboard. In Skyrim I simply press the `-key to the left of 1 but now in FO4 nothing happens. I have a UK layout and I have read that it is actually the ¬ symbol on the same key (shift+`) but nothing happens when I press that. I have tried tilde (~) over on the hash key near Enter but that is inactive too. How do I get into the console on a UK keyboard?

 

As always, I appreciate all replies and suggestions for early gameplay but would appreciate spoilers to be kept to a necessary minimum for every one else's benefit. I myself have the game (for PC of course) and am only as far as having acquired the Power Armor, re-visited the town where you find it to clear up the next day (although I did avoid the Municipal Sewers for RP reasons (there could be more of the nasty creatures down there) and tidied up in Sanctuary to make sure the setlers have their basic needs met.

Edited November 13, 2015 by DanielCoffey

[EssArrBee]

1. I think you modify the Vault suit with the Insulation mod and it will give higher Rad resistance + there are quite a few gas masks around. That should give you at least +20 Rad Resistance. Don't know how long storms last since the only time I was in one, I get murdered by a swarm of those blood bugs and died. Take Rad-X too.

 

2. Looks like it functions a bit like Skyrim's companion system, but you can inject them with Stimpaks during battle. 

 

3. I think you can make mines and grenades, but I don't think you can make ammo. I haven't seen it yet, but I think I made a frag mine.

 

4. The workbenches from places you are allied with are safe storage. They also share their containers no matter what location. So, if use the Red Rocket and Sanctuary they will share containers as just one big one. Really useful, but only works for places you ally with.

 

5. Might have to google that one. Probably something to do with INIs I guess. That or a different version of game. 

[Guest]

Radiation storms usually pass within an hour if you wait or sleep. I went into a open house and just slept.

 

Companions are essential. Don't bother picking them up, they recover quite quickly.

 

Ammo seems to be just loot and inventory bar explosive creation. It's easy to find. I have over 1300 .308.

 

Enemies within the base originally do not respawn. I do not know about default containers as I dare not test it, but placed ones work great. Actually, come to think of it, the looted first-aid kit on the floor in Red Rocket has not respawned, so I would say they are safe.

 

My friend was wondering that one. Same keyboard. We searched quickly, but gave up. I thought it might be a INI line too.

[DanielCoffey]

Thanks for the replies. This is very helpful and I am really enjoying discovering the nuances of the game as everything is fresh (although the Armour Station sound is ripped straight from Skyrim - that gave me flashbacks!)

 

I do have some more questions...

 

6. Armour Sets.

 

I know that some armour pieces function as a complete set... the Vault Suit, the Duster you get from the dead raider outside Sanctuary... but others seem to be piecemeal such as the Raider armour pieces.  Am I advised to go fo the armour pieces or is there some sort of layering system that means you can wear, for example, a raider set AND an overcoat?

 

7. Faction Armour.

 

Are the armour sets tied to faction adjustments? Will I be able to get closer to Raiders while wearing full Raider armour? If I am supposed to be rescuing settlers will they open fire if I am togged up in Raider gear or should I put on some Minuteman gear as I approach?

[Guest]

This should answer about armour:

 

 

Wearing a dress and some raider parts. I usually just wear armour parts and some silly clothing underneath.

 

On faction armour I haven't tried testing, but I used to roll around in pretty much all raider armour and they still shot at me. I'm going to guess there isn't a system for disguise.

Edited November 13, 2015 by Guest

[DanielCoffey]

Fairy nuff, as they say. I suspect that faction interractions could get modded in the dim and distant then (although it would affect dialog I guess).

 

Next one...

 

8. Burrowing and Concealed Creatures (semi-spoiler).

 

 

We have seen from the trailers that certain enemy creatures can burrow (or even be lying in wait underground). When disturbed, I have seen they burrow, are invulnerable and then pop up around you and bite you in the arse. Is the mechanism that they aggro, they burrow and they pop up where you WERE or if you move, do they track you and pop up where you ARE now?

 

I have also noticed creatures such as rad-roaches spawn from concealment in areas I thought were clear. There are a couple in the Sanctuary settlement and even in the Vault I think. Is there a Perception perk that will give you a better chance of seeing concealed critters?

 

[DanielCoffey]

According to https://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_4_console_commands the UK console key is ' on the @ key, right between ; and #. Talk about an odd choice!

 

One thing I noticed is that the FOV is not saved when you leave the console. Open console, type fov 90 (or whatever) and you will see the display shift. Close the console and it reverts. The correct place to change it is in the fallout.ini Interface section.

Dog's AI is astounding! Sure he loves to run around, investigating, making noises and sniffing stuff but the moment you crouch, he does too. He goes low, ears back and then runs straight towards you and sticks close. The moment you stand, he relaxes and off he goes again. The world is a wonderful place for him.

[alt3rn1ty]

The following link is going to be a little bit spoiler'ish, but its nice purely for finding out how to do some things which really are not obvious in game ( or the non-existant manual for steam purchased PC installations )

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/11/12/fallout-4-guide/

 

That bug reference FOV is already noted in what I think is going to be an official bug reporting topic on BGS forums ( at least it is being compiled by one of their moderators ) ..

https://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1544248-bug-report-index-pc/page-1

 

Maybe your report will add to its validity ? ( that seems to be the way the reports are being confirmed, by independant reports of the same problems ), and possibly added to Bethesdas official bug fixing.