Fallout 76 | The good, the bad and the ugly

[jawa2]

Detail

Title Fallout 76
Format PC, PS4, XBO, PS5, Xbox X/S

Original launch 23 Nov 2018
Wastelanders launch 14 Apr 2020
Steel Dawn launch 23 Nov 2020

Developer Bethesda
Publisher Bethesda

GRcade Thread 1 Click

Cover / launch artwork




Background

It’s 25 years after the nuclear-war caused devastation in the States and Vault 76 is finally ready to open. You were selected along with a few others to rebuild society and its now Reclamation Day.

Emerge into the post-nuclear war lands of West Virginia as you go alone or team up to explore the most dynamic Fallout world yet. You must rebuild walls, buildings, and the hopes of civilians as you survive in this dynamic open-world.

Fallout 76 continues to grow and evolve since the doors of Vault 76 opened nearly two years ago, giving players fresh adventures, rewards, and new ways to play. The massive Wastelanders update introduced fully-voiced NPCs to Appalachia with unique personalities, new stories and meaningful choice and consequence. For competitive players, Nuclear Winter added a Fallout-themed Battle Royale experience. C.A.M.Ps have grown to meet players’ boundless creativity and imagination, seasonal challenges revamped the reward system with a fresh monthly Fallout-themed twist, and Public Teams have revolutionized collaboration. And yet there’s still so much on offer for the lone wanderer too. And there’s even more to come. New story content with the arrival of the Brotherhood of Steel, customizable Shelters that deepen the C.A.M.P. experience, new events, daily operation, and so much more. There really is no better time to sign-up and join our growing community of vault dwellers.

Screens / Artwork



Links

> Official game site: Click

> Official game forum: Click


Videos

> Official trailer (11 Jun 2018)

> Official Wastelanders trailer (4 Feb 2020)

> Official Steel Dawn trailer (23 Oct 2020)

[jawa]

Steel Dawn update - patch notes 24 Nov 2020 - click here to view.

Following the launch of the update, I've played for an hour or two today to get a feel for how things have changed. I think that VATS targeting has improved but I need to put more time in to understand how it is working. I have yet to look at the new Steel Dawn questline nor the arrival of CAMP Shelters! The shelters sound interesting - large underground areas that can be accessed from your existing CAMP - although there are some limitations at present. I hope to look a little closer at them over the next week.

[Victor Mildew]

I can't believe it's been 2 years since this came out!

[jawa]

I can't believe it's been 2 years since this came out!

Time sure has flown by. I'm wondering how the game will be updated for new gen systems; they're compatible right now but with no major differences which I guess is to be expected for a multi-format online game. The upcoming Bethesda/Zenimax sale to Microsoft may bring change, too, although I'd anticipate things to stay roughly the same for the medium term. Rather like with other online games such as Final Fantasy XIV, I expect there'll be a time when the game only supports newer consoles.

In the meantime, it has been good to see the free updates arriving and it'll be interesting to see if Steel Dawn draws any new players in. Playing on PS4 last night the servers were noticeably busier - although this is normally the case for any online game when new content arrives.

[Photek]

I wonder what the Xbox population of this is now it's an established (and now permanent) Gamepass title?

Last time I played it, it was great so ill be going back.

[OrangeRKN]

The server limits are so low and the (base) game so geared towards single player that the population numbers shouldn't really affect much. It would be interesting to know though!

Population of the battle royale mode would be interesting for sure. I never even tried it in the end (when it launched I didn't want map spoilers and then I never went back to it after exploring the whole map)

[Victor Mildew]

Im praying i can have a good single player expereince with this as that's all I've got it for.

[JChalmers]

Started playing on the Series X last night and I'm not sure what to think at the moment.

Does it feel like an MMO? - No.
Does it feel like a fallout game - a little.
Am I enjoying it - So far yes.

Not too keen on the base building, although I did go into one building which I didn't realize was a player's camp. It looked amazing with lots of cool gadgets and gizmos, however part way through looking through it the game then kicked me out and into a river near it and the base dissappeared. Assuming they must've logged off?

[jawa]

...Not too keen on the base building...

It's amazing how tastes vary; base building is my fave part of the game!

...It looked amazing with lots of cool gadgets and gizmos, however part way through looking through it the game then kicked me out and into a river near it and the base dissappeared. Assuming they must've logged off?

Yeah, if a player logs off whilst you're in their camp, the camp goes and you'll fall to the surface. Be careful if someone has built their camp over the edge of a cliff or something... you could die due to the fall! It's generally considered courteous not to log off whilst someone is in your camp :-).

[Memento Mori]

£4.99 on CD Keys. I'll bite at that price.

[jawa]

£4.99 on CD Keys. I'll bite at that price.

Yeah, saw that PC offer this morning. Probably can't go wrong at that price, even if you just play for a few hours.

IMHO regular players will probably - as with other MMOs - want to subscribe. The crucial aspect is inventory space; it is fairly limited by default and the subscriber's scrapbox allows you to store unlimited junk. Very well organised players can work around the storage challenges but it's easier not to have to worry about it.

[OrangeRKN]

I never had an issue with it fwiw. Just dump some points into strength and the inventory perks (there is one that reduces scrap weight by something like 90%). Unless they rebalanced things a sub is not necessary

[Photek]

This badly needs a next gen patch, going from 60fps games to this was jarring.

[Jenuall]

Some great games never manage to get their own dedicated thread.

It takes something truly special to earn two of them!

[jawa]

This badly needs a next gen patch, going from 60fps games to this was jarring.

I'm not sure but I suspect that framerate improvements wouldn't be applied to either the backwards-compatible versions of the Xbox X/S or PS5. As an online multiplayer game, there could be technical issues or gameplay advantage situations if the newer consoles ran the game at a higher framerate. AFAIK, the only current enhancements are improved loading and fast-travel timings.

There is a possibility that enhanced, dedicated versions of the game could be launched for the new consoles but there has been no word on this from Bethesda yet.

[Victor Mildew]

*current gen patch

[OrangeRKN]

This badly needs a next gen patch, going from 60fps games to this was jarring.

I'm not sure but I suspect that framerate improvements wouldn't be applied to either the backwards-compatible versions of the Xbox X/S or PS5. As an online multiplayer game, there could be technical issues or gameplay advantage situations if the newer consoles ran the game at a higher framerate.

I'm pretty sure I remember someone showing that movement speed was linked to frame rate so you can run faster if you look directly at your feet - the visuals are less intensive so the frame rate improves

That was early on so maybe they patched it, but also this is Bethesda with their 500 year old engine so maybe not

[Photek]

As an online multiplayer game, there could be technical issues or gameplay advantage situations if the newer consoles ran the game at a higher framerate. AFAIK, the only current enhancements are improved loading and fast-travel timings.

There is a possibility that enhanced, dedicated versions of the game could be launched for the new consoles but there has been no word on this from Bethesda yet.

Well Bethesda are working on a Next Gen patch for The Elder Scolls Online and as for the framerate issue, that's not a problem, I'm playing Sea of Thieves at 60fps with Original Xbox owners are on 30, same with PUBG, and it will be the same with Destiny 2 on 8th of Dec with next gen consoles getting 60fps patches.

[jawa]

I'd imagine that we'd only see significant improvements to the game for the newer consoles if they had their own dedicated servers; as Xbox X/S users are playing on the same servers as XBO users - and PS5 users on the same as PS4 users - I think Bethesda would want to avoid major differences to the gameplay experience.

Maybe a few years down the line we could see support stopped for the last-gen systems and then the game could be enhanced to use more of the power of the newer consoles; rather like with other MMOs such as Final Fantasy XIV, for which the PS3 was a major platform for quite a while before support was dropped and development tailored more towards PC and PS4.

Edit: Photek, I've just seen your newer post - maybe they could issue 60 FPS versions of F76 for the newer consoles to use even though they're playing alongside users on older systems. I'd be kinda surprised but... maybe!

Edit2: Yeah, it seems that Sea of Thieves does this. Would this offer any gameplay advantages to 60 FPS players over 30 FPS players? I can't quite see how this works... in an online MMO gameworld, objects can't move at different rates, so I wonder what information is being changed if some systems are running it at a higher FPS?

[Photek]

I...just gave 3 examples of double frame rates on service based games. My point is they can put Fallout76 to 60fps if they want and honestly, I think they will. Other improvements wouldn't be as dramatic imo. Sure, Sea of Thieves is 4k/60 on Series X but the base gameplay is unchanged, PUBG hasn't changed a goddamn thing apart from the framerate which was patched to include the One X and PS4 Pro weeks before the new consoles so the game looks really bad (it's 1080p - not bad till you realise PUBG on console has no antialiasing which makes everything have jaggies) and Destiny 2 will be 4K/60 on both consoles while still playing with PS4/XB1 players at 1080/30.

Apart from all of that, I also play DayZ which targets 60 accross everything but never hits it on the older consoles but now is locked.