Crippled NPC's

[Runestones]

Am I the only one who finds it REALLY weird not to find anyone crippled among the npcs? I mean, people face Raiders, Mirelurkers, Supermutants, Deathclaws, and all kinds of weird, dangerous s*** and no one lost an arm, a leg or at least and eyes but still survived after the encounter?
I mean, we should meet people on wheelchairs without legs, people who need strutches, one armed guys and girls in every city and settlement, maybe even among the raiders, some that lost an eye or a hand and put either a bionic one in place or a knife in place of the lost hand.
We meet ghouls everywhere, literally people who've been burned by radiation like a motherf***er and still survived while retaining lots of permanent damage. Is it so hard to believe someone would have it's hand cut off by a super-mutant but still survive and make it back to safety?
It's sad, but needed and SERIOUSLY immersive.

Also, I'd love to see a guy, with no legs on a motorized wheelchair facing some raiders with his super OP Legendary mini-gun and killing every single one of them like it was just another lazy Friday to him.
"Oh, this surprised you? Kid, I once used defibrillators on myself. I've swallowed enough microchips and shet them back out again to make a computer. This arm has been ripped off completely and re-attached with *this* fockin' arm. I drove a car off a freeway on top of a train while I was on fire. Not the car, *I* was on fire. I've jumped from a high-rise building using only a raincoat as a parachute and broke both legs upon landing; I killed the Deathclaw who ate what remained of my legs by perforating his neck with the bones that were sticking out of the stumps before he finished me off... Those betches ain't shet. Not even enough to break a sweat"
http://www.xtremeidiots.com/uploads/inline/1194/527180e20504d_MinigunWheelchair1.jpg

 

On a side note, where are the rest of the old people? I think if I met 3 elder NPC's, it was too much. Does everyone die after their fifties if they don't turn into ghouls?

Edited October 17, 2016 by Runestones

[Pthalo]

As discovered by asking questions in a post about my own crippled limbs healing of their own accord, others noticed that NPC's limbs will un-cripple somewhere in the 10-20 second range. In or out of combat. This mechanic is identical for the player and does not require stimpaks to experience. I can see why npc's don't seem slowed down at all by your shooting at them! Not for long, at least.

 

Are you asking for an overhaul of the crippling system, or for npc's with permanently disabled/missing limbs? The latter would need the former, and both would go a long way to making the world look like it's full of hard-learned survivors, and not just people. I like that for immersion. You're right, it would be a bit sad. Also kind of heartening, seeing these people just don't give up. It would be fitting in a story like Fallout's. Most folks would get killed off by such serious injuries, but there are always exceptions.

 

 

I haven't done much exploring, and so haven't met many people young or old. But between people dying in the natural environment (I realize deathclaws aren't entirely 'natural' but they sure are now!!), and the myriad of cancers that can develop after decades of low-level rad exposure... people are just not gonna live as long.

IRL there's a wonderful man living in the Fukushima exclusion zone taking care of all the abandoned animals, and he's been told he'll likely get some form of cancer in 30-40 years (if memory serves: apologies for lack of link sources). He just doesn't care because he went into this old and figures most of his life is already behind him anyway. But someone born in a place like that? You bet they'd be seeing such complications in their prime years, if not dealing with birth defects. Average human age span is probably a couple decades shorter in Fallout even if you exclude getting murdered in various ways.

 

 

Not intended to be argumentative: I seriously enjoy thinking about how things would work in a real scenario. I like your post.

Edited November 22, 2015 by Pthalo

[Runestones]

 

 

As discovered by asking questions in a post about my own crippled limbs healing of their own accord, others noticed that NPC's limbs will un-cripple somewhere in the 10-20 second range. In or out of combat. This mechanic is identical for the player and does not require stimpaks to experience. I can see why npc's don't seem slowed down at all by your shooting at them! Not for long, at least.

 

Are you asking for an overhaul of the crippling system, or for npc's with permanently disabled/missing limbs? The latter would need the former, and both would go a long way to making the world look like it's full of hard-learned survivors, and not just people. I like that for immersion. You're right, it would be a bit sad. Also kind of heartening, seeing these people just don't give up. It would be fitting in a story like Fallout's. Most folks would get killed off by such serious injuries, but there are always exceptions.

 

 

I haven't done much exploring, and so haven't met many people young or old. But between people dying in the natural environment (I realize deathclaws aren't entirely 'natural' but they sure are now!!), and the myriad of cancers that can develop after decades of low-level rad exposure... people are just not gonna live as long.

IRL there's a wonderful man living in the Fukushima exclusion zone taking care of all the abandoned animals, and he's been told he'll likely get some form of cancer in 30-40 years (if memory serves: apologies for lack of link sources). He just doesn't care because he went into this old and figures most of his life is already behind him anyway. But someone born in a place like that? You bet they'd be seeing such complications in their prime years, if not dealing with birth defects. Average human age span is probably a couple decades shorter in Fallout even if you exclude getting murdered in various ways.

 

 

Not intended to be argumentative: I seriously enjoy thinking about how things would work in a real scenario. I like your post.

 

 

 

The second, NPC's with permanently crippling, and yes, I agree that both are needed and was also thinking about that while I was writing, so really, thank you for pointing that out ^^.

I also think that'd really go a long way into immersion. To see people who survived but at a cost, as you called them, hard-learned survivors. Both heartening and disheartening stories of those that even by losing parts of themselves, didn't really lose anything as they never gave up and even found their own way to get stronger and those that because they lost something, now give themselves in to drinking and drugs or just hide and push everyone away. Also, people with synthetic limbs and bionics, at the institute and so on. Who knows, maybe even creatures that survived an encounter with someone or something, like a Death-single-claw, a broken-shell mirelurker, broken/malfunctioning synths and robots. Not only humans.

 

I know the chances of living a long life in a low radiation exposure environment are actually lower, but, if I remember correctly, most of the remaining radiation is already gone, specially at city areas, so I do believe it's possible a slight if not quite an amount of people would be able to live enough to get old and wrinkly, I mean, look at Mama Murphy. I'm sure the drugs degraded her quite a bit but I'm still pretty sure she's about 70 to 80 years old. Natural selection would dictate that quite a lot of the people there are descendants of survivors that actually had more radiation resistance so they actually would resist radiation better than our pre-war/200 years old organism.

 

I'm really happy you enjoyed the idea and thank you for your time in giving your opinion ^^ it is really appreciated.

Edited October 17, 2016 by Runestones

[ThaAvenger]

I actually came across one NPC with missing legs. Only one though. I won't mention who or where they are though since some would consider that spoilers.

Either way that would be a pretty nice addition to the game. It'd make the wasteland feel more harsh (as it should).

[Dimaspy]

We should make a list of killable, special NPCs.

E.g. cripples, pregnant women.. At least we've got children so far.

 

Would be interesting if you could strap on a missile to a wheelchair, and see the cripple fly off.

 

 

I'm not even being sarcastic here, I want to see this happen.

[Runestones]

Would be interesting if you could strap on a missile to a wheelchair, and see the cripple fly off.

That sounded so wrong... but still in some f'd up way, so right... If I saw a motorized wheel-chair raider(probably a rare encounter, I believe) with a missile launcher and he didn't see me, I'd so pickpocket one of his missiles and strap to his chair... god I feel so evil saying that, and even more so cause I laughed so hard at the thought.

[Runestones]

Going over some old postings of mine to check the ones I believe to be most awesome and ask the community if it is possible or if it already exists. Does anyone know?
The ones I'm commenting on are the ones I actually wanted the most when I was playing. I really wish to see at least one of these to have become a reality, and if even one does, I will make a clean install of the game just to check it out.

This one very much so, as it was a serious immersion breaker to me to never have found anyone with past injuries, scars, burn marks or crippled anywhere around a post-apocalyptic world with monsters all around, raiders everywhere and radiation rains.