CHEESE! *yawn* feelin' sleepy...plus this is a teeny bit late! ...Or kinda a lot... · 2:22am Nov 26th, 2013
Hello! A little bird told me I was forgetting something important...so...hi! First bit of chatty stuff from me in three weeks!
You know those winter days where it's 8:30, but it feels like it's 10? Yeah, I'm having one of those...
So: First off! ANSWERING TIME!
Q: How many ponies does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: 6. The first five convince the 6th to leave for some stupid reason, and then fail utterly. Then number 6 comes back to save the day single handedly.
Q: What kind of character build are you going for in skyrim?
A: I originally was going for a mage character, but then I said "screw it" and became Lord "Master of Everything" Stu to earn all of the achievements. I'd have to say it isn't exactly a fun play style. By the time I confronted Alduin, I was so brutally OP that none of the rest of the game was any challenge anymore.
Q: Are you an object?
A: I am a hoo-man doing hoo-man things.
Q. Favorite superhero?
A. Hrrrn....Batman.
Q. What are your three most common tagged skills?
A. Energy Weapons, Repair, and either Science or Lockpick
Q. Cyberpunk or Steampunk
A. Hrmmm...cyber.
Q. Favorite shipping pair don't have to be specifficly pony pairings?
A. Anything straight. Not that I'm homophobic, it's just that F/F pairing is so common in this fandom it's nice to have a change of pace.
Q. Favorite fallout armor from any game?
A. Hellfire armor
Q. Favorite reference fallout has ever done?
A. The numerous Monty Python references.
And now for something different!
Um...a while back, I made a post of the "stuff that annoys me" category that was about how gameplay elements should absolutely stay out of the story, if you want it to be taken seriously. Here, I feel like elaborating on this subject. Such elements exist in gameplay to make it less of a pain in the butt, via Rule of Fun. To be specific, while these mainly relate to Fallout stories I've read, I've no doubt that they crop up in other fandoms.
Some video game elements that should stay the f*** away from fanfic.
1. Inventory Hammerspace.
Right off the top of my head, I can recall at least 3 fics I've read that depicted the PipBoy as some sort of miracle device that can warp reality, stowing away the guy's stuff through some bullshit process each time with "their mass is added to my weight" as an end explanation. I'm sorry...just...what? That's stupid! What's wrong with just giving your boi a backpack or pouches or something that makes sense? I'm not sure where I've read it, but I'm pretty sure that Pip means personal information processor. Ya'know...like a PDA of sorts? Anyone remember in the ye olde games where the Pipboy solely consisted of what would be the Data tab now (Inventory and Status had their own screens, for the uninitiated)?
2. Carrying around a pointless amount of guns.
I think I mentioned this at an end of chapter blurb like forever ago, but this one just irks me. Right off the top of your heads, when you last cleared out the local abandoned whatever of doom in Fallout land, just how many different weapons did you use (I don't mean carry, I meant actually used)? I'd have to guess that it's not twelve... just yesterday I read some FO/ME x-over in which the courier used...well, way too many different weapons, especially ridiculous given that two of them were both rapid fire energy weapons that use the same ammo. This one also ties into the previous gripe above. Just imagine how much of a pain in the butt it would be cramming them in a backpack or whatever when you lug them all around?
Also, encumbrance: just because the game says 299/300lbs? Doesn't really mean dick outside of gameplay. Even if you are a very strong person (WHO EVEN LIFTS), I'm guessing that hauling around 300lbs of...well...stuff would be very tiring. Not to mention awkward. (Quickly being able to get from place to place is important in a firefight...right?). All those guns aren't going to save you if you are exhausted by the time you get into a firefight. (Just a random question from a noob: about how many lbs of stuff does a real life soldier tend to carry?) Just a thought: You would think that an experienced Wanderer/Courier would take into account the type of territory s/he's going to be wandering into and kit themselves out appropriately, rather than weigh themselves with a veritable armory which they don't need.
Even if Mr/Ms. Fallout protagonist is decked out in power armor, making agility less of a concern, they are still probably only going to use one or two weapons. Just look at the Enclave and the Brotherhood. They typically only use either an energy wep or a heavy.
Someone once made the argument "What if one breaks?", but you know what also helps? Proper maintenance.
3. I do not want to hear about SPECIAL scores, tag skills, or skill points! (Yes I've actually seen it before) Such things have absolutely no place in a narrative. Describe what your boi is good at! Don't say "all of his skills are at 100!" or even better yet, show him actually doing something skillfully! Awesomesauce!
Feel free to mention similar things in the comments below! Discuss! Thoughts?
Okay, I think I'm done for now. Have some Shyabetes
And some Flutterbutt.
Even in the games, I only carry around a few weapons and my armor.
I agree with you on the hammerspace; ain't no way that would fit in a Fallout story.
A story with NANOMACHINES, SON! may work. But Fallout, nah.
Even I try to limit my self on the guns, but not weaponry.
As in, every slot is used, but they all aren't huge as weapons.
Also, I thought it was 8 slots, not 12 (I play on xbawx)?
Last I recall (since I haven't played in a long time), my character had the following.
Blood Nap
Medicine Stick
MF HyperBreeder Alpha
A sup'ed up Plasma Caster (But not the Smitty Special!)
Grenade APW
Two-Step Goodbye/ Pushy /Any Powerfist Variant
The Shoulder Mounted Machine Gun
SleepyTyme
So really, the only big weapons I had that would not make sense to be constantly carrying around would be the SMMG and the Plasma Caster.
Although, I do believe the SMMG is a collapsible weapon, although I may be confusing with the Red Glare, which I had before I swapped it out for the APW. Although it still doesn't excuse the amount of ammo one would have to carry for it to be effective.
In regard to the Caster, depending on how an author sees it, they could possibly go the route of giving it unlimited ammo. As in, 'The Courier was practically a savant with tech, and was able to replicate the HyperBreeder tech for use in his Plasma Caster.' Its a cheap, but still lore friendly way of passing it off, aside from the fact the Courier still has to lug it around, probably all in one piece.
Aside from that, everything seems to be a reasonable size to constantly carry around.
There is a knife to put anywhere on the body, a Power Fist to keep in the pack, 2 relatively small weapons (APW and SleepyTyme) to disassemble and keep in the pack, and the Medicine Stick to sling across the back. And, ironically enough, the Medicine Stick would technically be the easiest to find ammo for in Equestria. It uses a 19th century black powder round, and I'm quite sure Equestria can produce them, given their technological levels, to say nothing of magic.
On the regards of the encumberance, yeah, 299/300 pounds really wouldn't seem a lot different to most people. But most people don't have access to a fully synthetic spinal cord and heart, now do they? That could easily be used as an explanation, provided said explanation was more than 'he has metal spine, he is good.'
Dayum, I wrote a whole lot more than I thought I would....
1542035
Yeah, it's 8 quickslots.
12 was just a number I pulled from the reaches of outer space.
Though I usually reserve one slot for stimpacks.
1542049
Out of that wall of text that I poured my heart and soul into, that is your only comment?
Yeah, its 8 slots?
You.....monster.
1542055
Oh another thought...something you said.
Somewhere early on in Mystoryland...
1542102
Huh.
I completely forgot that.
Does it apply to his NovaSurge as well?
Because I do recall reading something about his mf cell for his pistol being recharged or something.....
1542123
I'd have to look it up as well.
I think what I had it was was that the E Cells do recharge, albeit slowly. So he keeps a bunch of them on hand.
I know that feeling in Skyrim. I feel like the early levels just pop off way too fast. It's my first playthrough with the DLC installed, and I'm already pushing lvl 40. I haven't even started the Solstheim Island questline, and I just finished the Jurgen horn quest. I'm trying to stick to bows and daggers in combat just to keep things interesting.
You pretty much said everything about video game elements staying away from fanfiction, I will say having a character that is a god in combat can be bothersome, while not always a case the guy's still human (depending on the game" and has weaknesses and trouble dealing with enemies all the same.
But anyways after looking at you answering your first question for the F.A.Q something tells me the new episodes of the season did not sit well for you?
1542035
I always keep my inventory down to the clothes on my back, and three to four weapons.
1) Main weapon, usually a long-range rifle.
2) Sidearm, Usually a large pistol or small shotgun.
3) (Optional) Mid-range weapon, usually a machine gun or an energy weapon.
4) Explosive, frag grenade. (Or plasma, if I'm high enough level.)
A average US soldier is recommended to not exceed 40kg worth of stuff according to the guide book.
They are usually forced to lug around twice that much.
Also when are you going to update?
THE GRANDMAPOCYLSE IS COMING.
Going into a dungeon with just an assault rifle and plasma pistol is all fine and dandy, but you'll pick up this raider's shotgun, that Enclave trooper's laser, and maybe even the grenades from this trap!
After all, it 'could come in handy sometime'.
... It takes forever to find anything in My Megaton House because all the containers are stuffed full of sporks and Chinese pistols.
"[Character X] loaded up his infinitely deep pockets to nearly full capacity- carrying 299 pounds of gear, just one pound short of his absolute limit, so that he could still run like an athlete down the zombie filled corridors."
~Snort~ Okay, you've piqued my interest. Now I actually want to see goofy dialogue like that in a fan fic somewhere.
But anyway, I think the graceful way of making one's story feel more like the game it's based off of would be to parody the dialogue that appears in the game rather than the game's mechanics. Like... getting the same "the door is jammed" message over and over again when a character tries to gain access to what basically amounts to an interactive wall texture.
1542055
Why did... why did you punctuate that sentence with an icon of Rainbow Dash in mid orgasm? I think I might be missing a crucial bit of subtext here.
1542565
Why not?
I just thought it looked silleh, is all.
1542569
"Why not?" The statement behind every scientific invention and every sexually transmitted case of leprosy.
1542573
......
I'd hit it.
Yeah that is annoying. It's the one time I advocate gameplay and story to be segregated otherwise you'll get logic errors up to your ears.
I do remember reading a fanfic that had the mass-adding Pipboy, it wasn't necessarily a bad idea, it just needs adequate explanation and needs to not feel like a cop out.
And Flutterbutt is 2nd best poni butt
1542286
Yeah. The reality is that the standard kit is 40kg, PLUS body armor and weapon, so it's usually closer to 50kg - 55kg,especially for the guy with the SAW or the radio
DAST FLUTTERBUTT
Generally, I go for the hammerspace route with the Pip-Boy, and yes, I've played 1 and 2, but not Tactics. Mainly for small things though, like extra ammo and stimpacks, because your character can only have so many pockets to carry ammo, food, drink, explosives, and stimps.
To balance that, I also have the headcanon that it takes long enough to remove each object that it becomes cumbersome to move large masses of items; taking out spare ammo means summoning one magazine at a time, or in the case of larger ammo types not contained in magazines (40x46mm, missiles, hand grenades) one round at a time.
That said, I think that a strong character could easily carry several weapons at a time with proper placement. Survivalist's Rifle on the right side of the back, grenade launcher on the left side, riot shotgun stowed on the back of the hip, sidearm of choice holstered, and spare mags tucked away.
In RPGs I tend to operate away from my "home base" for extended periods of time, so I pack everything I might need, from standard weapons like rapid-fire rifles to specialist weapons like shotguns and mines, and in Fo3 I sometimes carry a duplicate suit of armor to repair my first one when its condition degrades if other copies to repair it aren't available. After all, the FOX/FOXHOUND modus operandi of on-site weapons procurement isn't terribly effective in a more unpredictable world that's uncontrolled down to randomized loot in boxes that sometimes break the lore (lookin' at you, Jet inhalers I found in the Vault 101 Overseer's locker).
And as a counterpoint to arguments that this kind of hammerspace is surreal technology and almost lore-breaking, there's a fair amount of technology in the Fallout-verse that even the users don't understand the function of. The scientists who created FEV and the modified east coast FEV didn't fully understand how the retrovirus worked, only well enough to develop the mutagen and encourage certain mutations in subjects. The failed FEV experiments in Vault 87 support this notion of incomplete knowledge.
I don't find it a huge leap to assume that the Pip-Boy was a likewise poorly understood technology, and that at least some of the Vaults would be given these devices as a way to further test the people inside them.
On a related note, I almost never use power armor because the fingerless glove on the Pip-Boy just butchers the entire appearance in my mind. Thankfully, the first playthrough on NV I did somehow glitched so that OCD-tickling glove was replaced by whatever my armor had. The PB3000 itself was unchanged though, so it was a win-win.
I usually go Small Guns, Repair and either Sneak or Lockpick myself. Ammo for normal kinetic weapons is easier to come by, cheaper, usually just as good in the right firearm as in corresponding Energy Weapons, more varied, and they can be suppressed.
On the other hand, guns are less flashy and usually less cool, making the EW users stand out more. Plus EWs have fewer ammo families (mainly pistol ammo, rifle ammo, and heavy ammo), so that part of the logistics equation is simplified relative to the numerous calibers that have to be organized for normal gun users.
Yes. Good choice!
Agreed. TwiDash was interesting the first few times I saw it, but then it got old as the Featured Box became that pairing's favorite hangout. And to a similar extent, other F/F ships, most of which have already been done hundreds of times with little innovation. If romance is just a subplot rather than the sole focus of the entire fic, then there's a lot more room to innovate in that story.