Weapons Degradation

[frank lee]

Are there any other shooters here who think the weapons degradation thing is just stupid? I mean what exactly are guns in the Fallout universe made from anyway. I just testfired a pristine Cowboy repeater with standard .357 rounds and it went down to the condition notch in 102 shots. Aw c'mon a firearm that poor would blow up in your face long before you noticed it becoming less accurate.

 

And energy weapons . . . No moving parts? I could imagine laser crystals burning out but that wouldn't necessarily lead to inaccuracy. More like a simple catastrophic failure of the device, could the optics wear out? in that case it wouldn't 'lase'.

 

It was pointed out elsewhere that all of the weapons in the game are hundreds of years old. Sorry but in that case it a 'blow your hand off' job and the Gun-Runners among others are manufacturing from pre war designs.

 

So who came up with the whole game 'weapons degradation' paradigm and why hasn't someone tracked him down and shot him!

[pjz]

It's abstracted down to a very basic level to keep maintenance from being excessively fiddly - I'm sure there are many other ways to try to simulate this that would have been more complex, but keep in mind it's a game in which drinking soda makes your wounds heal. I've owned many guns over the years and you know, stripping and cleaning them isn't all that fun, I don't think a realistic fieldstrip simulator would be a big gameplay feature. ;)

[frank lee]

How about a [shift>R] key for pull through, y'know just maintain :rolleyes:

[minngarm]

I have to agree, its the "best" way to implement some realism on weapon use in a game without taking a lot of the fun away. It keeps you from having one "uber" weapon to use 24/7 since you have to go and get it repaired.

[pjz]

It does? :)

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Jury_Rigging (truly a great perk for almost any character)

[frank lee]

Sorry all I have this in most of the time

 

No Weapon or Armor Degradation mod

 

A firearm that's bullets fly slower by the end of a firefight is counter immersive for me. I can suspend a lot of belief but not that much. As far as I understand old 'black powder' muskets and what have you do degrade very quickly. poor steel and the fact that the powder residue is extremely corrosive. Anyone fancy taking on a deathclaw with muzzle-loader?

[RazorKnight]

There's a mod that lets you use almost anything to repair almost anything. And there's mods to make weapons and armor unbreakable. Choose your favorite flavor.

 

Weapon downgrading is actually pretty realistic when you consider the game's set in a fast-forwards time scale for most other things. You're complaining about 102 shots wearing out a gun, but don't mind thirty minutes days, or being able to carry fifty kilos of random stuff on your back without breaking a sweat? Or being able to go on for several days, under the hot sun, without sleeping, drinking or eating, and not die from it?

[Staghound]

The point is that good quality weapons just don't degrade at the speed the weapons in this game degrade: I have handled bren guns which had been in regular use (albeit only for training and range shoots) for over 20 years and they were still accurate and reliable. I used the same Smith and Wesson .38 revolver as a personal issue for over 2 years, firing an average of 50 practice rounds a week, and never had any problems with it.

 

The only really important thing is to clean a gun properly after firing it. In other words degradation should be prevented, not repaired, by regular maintenance. Combat weapons are designed for hard use in rugged conditions, and firing them shouldn't damage them. Barrel pitting caused by failure to clean them after firing is the main problem, followed by failure to keep them clean and oiled.

[secksegai]

The point is that good quality weapons just don't degrade at the speed the weapons in this game degrade: I have handled bren guns which had been in regular use (albeit only for training and range shoots) for over 20 years and they were still accurate and reliable. I used the same Smith and Wesson .38 revolver as a personal issue for over 2 years, firing an average of 50 practice rounds a week, and never had any problems with it.

 

The only really important thing is to clean a gun properly after firing it. In other words degradation should be prevented, not repaired, by regular maintenance. Combat weapons are designed for hard use in rugged conditions, and firing them shouldn't damage them. Barrel pitting caused by failure to clean them after firing is the main problem, followed by failure to keep them clean and oiled.

 

I think the concept is great, its the implementation that's irritating, as in the vanilla game its more a cap sink than anything else. As of right now, I keep degradation in my game, but adjust the modifier so I don't have to edit the health of every single weapon. Weapons need maintenance, and while certain weapons can take a beating (AK47 comes to mind), other weapons can feel far more fragile than you'd expect (in game sniper rifle). Ultimately, its more a matter of how the repair system is implemented. The FONV setup is a huge improvement over FO3, but in the vanilla game things like cost of repair have too many discrepancies. Things like needing two wrenches in a repair kit for example, as recipes could use some work. I can fathom needing a whole roll of duct tape for a major gun repair, but for a powder charge?

 

Well I guess to summarize I think the system has taken a step in the right direction (no more 65% or 74% or whatever it was from Moira alone) but it could use a lot more re-balancing.

When considering the time and effort to go through that, its easier to just remove degradation, especially since you generally won't be mimicking real-life verbatim.

[Gashjackel]

It's just a maguffin to make you spend caps.

 

Plus the majority of weapons are around two hundred years old, the majority of the ammo is pretty lousy stuff too (two hundred year old or handmade by hacks?)

As for the new guns made by Gun Runners remember they'll be using poorly recycled steel and other metals.

The handmade powder is also going to be pretty s*** grade stuff (maybe even blackpowder)