Vertibird Signal Overhaul *"minor" Spoilers*

[Th3Boar]

Hey Forum,

 

So I have played fallout 4 extensively and I enjoyed the game so much. Sure, mods have made it even better, "even" just the ones that were made this early, but in general I like it.

I have finished the games main plot and am sort of just now starting with the settlement thing and need to travel a lot, however I am not the biggest fan of fast traveling. Incomes the Vertibird! I LOVE this mechanic SO MUCH! I am so excited to see modders take the potential for this "new" vehicle type and just go crazy with it. Right now though, we, the players, are limited by the signal grenades to call for one.

I have a problem with this for two reasons:

 

1. How on earth is a faction supposed to see the smoke from anywhere on the map and be able to send a Vertibird your way to pick you up? I don't see look-out posts everywhere! So that bugs the hell out of me.

 

2. The other thing, and maybe even the more compelling reason of the two, is ... well ... these grenades are just simply hard to come by, if you use them extensively for traveling. Only one vendor in the whole commonwealth sells them to you. And the worst part, not every grenade gets you a Vertibird, if for example one throws it somewhere looking rather spacious and the game saying "Well, sorry. This space wouldn't fit a Vertibird, better luck next time." It's infuriating. So not only am I limited by how many I own, but I need to also hope that the place I throw it (making it even harder to exactly pin-point the LZ (landing zone) ) is large enough to actually fit the damn thing.

 

So based on these problems and playing the game through, I had an idea. The brotherhood has these cool looking "distress signal"-packs that a group takes, when they go out on a mission, so in case things go south, they can set it up and receive help. So I thought to myself, why not have a re purposed BoS distress signal handed to the player that, when set on the ground (via something similar looking to the settlement placing system? Just a thought), would act as a signal grenade, just without actually loosing the item.

 

Ok, here is my Idea:

Have a "distress signal" renamed to a Vertibird-signal transmitter (or something like that) that has the same functionality of the signal grenade. Maybe you can get it from a NPC of the faction you joined or you could just buy it from a vendor in that faction? To make it "lore-friendlier"?

It can be placed on the ground (via settlement system, just with no limitations? or maybe when in the inventory and selecting it a menu poping up asking if you want to place it?) and activates after placing.

Then the usual text from the signal grenade appears telling you, if the Vertibird can get to you or not.

If it can't, you can just pick it up again, walk somewhere else and then just redo the steps above.

If it can, you wait for it to land, pick up the placed transmitter, jump in the Vertibird and travel.

 

It would make more sense from a "realistic" perspective imo, because radio waves are a thing and can be sent further than the smoke of a signal grenade^and it wouldn't be such a pain having to "loose" a paid item every time it doesn't work or just simply running out and having to walk somewhere over encumbered!

So I hope some of you feel the same way and I can interest a modder to make this. I lack the required skill and don't have the time to aquire it.

 

Thank you for your time.

[MrSubwayMan]

As far as the lore goes, when you get the signal grenades, Maxson tells you they emit a "unique RF smoke" that allows the vertibirds' flight computers to ping your location, so its not just like a regular smoke grenade that someone on the Prydwen or at Railroad HQ is looking at from the other side of the Commonwealth. As for the things not being able to land, they always will, sometimes it just takes a minute for them to locate an LZ (at least in my experience, I may be wrong.)

 

If you want to just replace the signal grenades with the distress pulsar, I don't think it would be too hard, but I wouldn't know for sure (I don't really do mod creation myself). it should definitely be doable when the CK comes out. Should just be a simple retexture.

[Th3Boar]

Ah ok, I didn't do the BoS questline, (plus I didn't really pay attention, cause he was "such a nice guy" :P). Ok, well then I guess the Signal flares would at least make sense, but its still a pain. And yes, there actually are locations (especially in the city) where you get a message saying, that the vertibird was unable to reach your location or something among those lines. That is so infuriating, even more so, because when you travel to such a location from somewhere else the vertibird may end up landing in one of those "inaccessible" places to drop you off, clipping through lots of things -.-' Overall I hope once the creation kit comes out, some of these things will be fixed.

 

I will have to see, if it is really as simple as a re-tex.