Forums » Fallout

Builders Discuss: Too Many Good Ideas

    • 152 posts
    February 18, 2017 10:46 AM EST

          So if there's one thing that's certain across the board for all builds, it's that making them takes time. Now unless you do it like FudgeMuppet and cheat to get to basically endgame level for the sake of skipping all the playthrough (not judging, they have to keep up weekly posts), then you know the long hours of play testing that are sometimes super fun and other times rather mind numbing. Now playtesting is very vital and also very enjoyable and definitely shows the commitment we builders have to our characters, however I have a question: how do you handle having a plethora of great build ideas when you can truly only play one at a time? Due to the lack of builds in the Fallout 4 group, there are still so many untouched and undiscovered ideas yet I truthfully wish I could just play them all XD. Since juggling multiple builds really only means that they will all suffer in quality, we the builders really only get to commit ourselves to one at a time I feel. I feel like it's something slightly similar to restartitis,  anyone else ever feel this? Or am I just crazy? Regardless I'd love to hear some thoughts on how to cope! Also slightly unrelated question: What does your "schedule" usually look like for the process of creating a build? Thanks!

    -Madd

    • 1441 posts
    February 19, 2017 11:31 AM EST

    Basically, I  play the first of the ideas to come to the forefront, then play for two weeks

    • 248 posts
    February 19, 2017 12:26 PM EST

    Hmm an interesting thought. I think I take about 6-8 weeks minimum to playtest once I've settled on an idea. And I have a fairly one track mind. I don't usually play multiple ideas at once. Which is not much help to you :/

    • 215 posts
    February 19, 2017 12:54 PM EST

    I keep a diary of sorts for build ideas because I honestly never know when an inspiration may hit me.  While I'm doing one playtest an idea or an item or a location in game may trigger a thought and I'll just jot down a few details and bullet points.  Then when I am ready to move on I pull that out and review them, find one that gets my attention and move on to that.  It also helps to weed out, I've had as many as 10-11 ideas noted but currently on 1-2.  Last time I pulled it up I actually deleted 3 of the ideas as not good enough.  Anyway, this helps me organize my thoughts, not to forget ideas down the road and to stay focused on one at a time for actually development.

    Even in the FO4 event where I had three builds going, I deleted one as "too plain" at the end of the day and still had one that I was currently playtesting and pretty much finished before I started the other one. 

    • 215 posts
    February 19, 2017 12:57 PM EST

    Mottyskills said:

    Hmm an interesting thought. I think I take about 6-8 weeks minimum to playtest once I've settled on an idea. And I have a fairly one track mind. I don't usually play multiple ideas at once. Which is not much help to you :/

    Just curious, is 6-8 weeks playing hard or just meandering along here and there.  Because when I'm playing hard and testing a playthrough it's not uncommon for me to do 15-18 hours a day on a weekend.  So if someone says 6-8 weeks and I take say 2-3 weeks but the first guy is doing 30 minutes here, maybe a 2 hour marathon (for him) there, then I may end up with 2-3 times the play time on a build even though it's less time on the calendar. 

    • 248 posts
    February 19, 2017 1:01 PM EST
    I don't really track hours. I just play until the build gets to the level I need to hit the perks I want. But I only play an hour a day mostly, so prob guessing about 40-50 hrs total.
    • 152 posts
    February 19, 2017 1:02 PM EST

    Mottyskills said:

    Hmm an interesting thought. I think I take about 6-8 weeks minimum to playtest once I've settled on an idea. And I have a fairly one track mind. I don't usually play multiple ideas at once. Which is not much help to you :/

     I certainly envy having a one track mind, I get to scatter brained with this stuff

    • 152 posts
    February 19, 2017 1:07 PM EST

    John LeBlanc said:

    I keep a diary of sorts for build ideas because I honestly never know when an inspiration may hit me.  While I'm doing one playtest an idea or an item or a location in game may trigger a thought and I'll just jot down a few details and bullet points.  Then when I am ready to move on I pull that out and review them, find one that gets my attention and move on to that.  It also helps to weed out, I've had as many as 10-11 ideas noted but currently on 1-2.  Last time I pulled it up I actually deleted 3 of the ideas as not good enough.  Anyway, this helps me organize my thoughts, not to forget ideas down the road and to stay focused on one at a time for actually development.

    Even in the FO4 event where I had three builds going, I deleted one as "too plain" at the end of the day and still had one that I was currently playtesting and pretty much finished before I started the other one. 

     That's pretty much what I do now, I just keep word documents for each build idea and if something sparatically pops to my head that would be beneficial for one of them, I write it in. However my problem is that I kind of have a very unpredictable desire in that I'll really be craving to do some sneaky sniping gameplay (My Vagabond character), but then the next day I'll lean more towards automatic and power armor combat (My Galactic Explorer build that is currently being formed). Just makes playtesting slow since I only get so much time after school and work that I feel  split over what I'd actually ENJOY playing at that moment

    • 152 posts
    February 19, 2017 1:09 PM EST

    Mottyskills said: I don't really track hours. I just play until the build gets to the level I need to hit the perks I want. But I only play an hour a day mostly, so prob guessing about 40-50 hrs total.
    You still make pretty darn good progress at an hour a day! I have like 2-3 hours that I can devote to things of my choosing, and when I pick gaming I still feel like that time just isn't enough to get me progressed anywhere 

    • 122 posts
    February 19, 2017 10:16 PM EST

    Typically, when it comes to Fallout, I come up with an idea and scribble it down, then hit this site here to glance over a perk spread and consider whether or not the actual concept would be viable, and if so, how. A starting SPECIAL spread would look something like this, and then I would slowly fill in perks while taking into account that bobbleheads will make the ending level different than what's posted, so I end up with something like this when I look over a perk spread for my concept, and then I play it to see if I like it after taking roleplay and fun into account.

     

    That little build is basically one I'm playing right now when I need a break from Skyrim. He's a traveling merchant who likes to meander between settlements without fast travel to buy, sell, and build. He gives his companion power armor so they can carry his stuff and be relatively safe in case of trouble. He uses the Spray 'n Pray in conjunction with Demolitions, Pickpocket, and Stealth when he comes across trouble, so enemies find themselves naked and in a space full of booby traps.

     

    If they don't attack at all? Fine. They can slowly disarm the munitions and go about their business.

     

    If they try and get aggressive, they end up eating explosions compounded by machinegun fire that ALSO explodes. Chems are inhaled in the event of something nasty like a Mirelurk Queen or a Deathclaw, where you often end up having difficulty sneaking and need to rely on a head-on confrontation. Chems are also consumed when it's time to bargain, because Grape Mentats are your cap-making friend.


    This post was edited by Mercurias at February 21, 2017 11:43 AM EST
    • 152 posts
    February 20, 2017 11:35 AM EST

    Mercurias said:

    Typically, when it comes to Fallout, I come up with an idea and scribble it down, then hit this site here to glance over a perk spread and consider whether or not the actual concept would be viable, and if so, how. A starting SPECIAL spread would look something like this, and then I would slowly fill in perks while taking into account that bobbleheads will make the ending level different than what's posted, so I end up with something like this when I look over a perk spread for my concept, and then I play it to see if I like it after taking roleplay and fun into account.

     

    That little build is basically one I'm playing right now when I need a break from Skyrim. He's a traveling merchant who likes to meander between settlements without fast travel to buy, sell, and build. He gives his companion power armor so they can carry his stuff and be relatively safe in case of trouble. He uses the Spray 'n Pray in conjunction with Demolitions, Pickpocket, and Stealth when he comes across trouble, so enemies find themselves naked and in a space full of booby traps.

     

    If they don't attack at all? Fine. They can slowly disarm the munitions and go about their business.

     

    If they try and get aggressive, they end up eating explosions compounded by machinegun fire that ALSO explodes. Chems are inhaled in the event of something nasty like a Mirelurk Queen or a Deathclaw, where you can often be caught flatfooted and unable to use the 1/5 of the build dedicated to leveling or the further perks associated with trade and building settlements. Chems are also consumed when it's time to bargain, because Berry Mentats are your cap-making friend.

    Thank you for the detailed response Mercarius :) good point on mentally evolving a concept and marking down the progress. Sometimes good ideas have a fun start but if thought about enough, have too many holes to worth the playtest. Thank you very much! And that build sounds AWESOME! I've been wanting a merchant build to be thrown into the Group and might end up doing it myself, would be great if you put yours in there so I can stop thinking about it :p Just a thought ;)