Fallout 4

[Art Blade]

yep, being with the Railroad, I'll have to face and fend off that attack not long from now. I'm curious.. you said the RR had somehow acquired vertibirds and that is what I liked with the above mentioned Minuteman ending, the BoS wasn't victorious but wasn't defeated, either, so I had access to their vertibirds. Now it's going to be different as I understand it, with the Railroad having their own.

[Dweller_Benthos]

Going for the peaceful ending, and I'm not sure if the video mentions this, is I think it's Tactical Thinking that will automatically start if you just come within speaking distance of Captain Kells on the Prydwyn. Avoiding him can be difficult if you're at that part of the game. I think the mission before that is Blind Betrayal, and you have to be careful how you finish that (or not) so that Tactical Thinking doesn't auto-start and make you an enemy of the Railroad.

[Art Blade]

when I played that, I think that as soon as those "don't complete" missions were triggered, I wouldn't pursue them. However, I faintly remember something that one mission that I was supposed to pursue wouldn't show so I tried the next stage of one of those missions that were not to be completed. Something like that, and then it would trigger what I needed. In the end, I managed and it wasn't that difficult.

[mandru]

The guy who posted the article I'd read about the intentionally failing the mission Fort Strong (that gives the BoS the big nukes) he'd stepped of the landing dock of the Prydwin in a PA (zero fall damage) instead of boarding the vertibird causing an auto fail.

[Art Blade]

hehe, that's a cool way of failing the BoS -- "See ya," and hop off an air ship 

[mandru]

From what I understood he was still considered BoS (though he'd used a different faction to destroy the Institute) and had access to the Prydwin but they never got the nukes needed for the big robot which kind of pulled their teeth on becoming too obnoxious.

[Art Blade]

very interesting

[Art Blade]

mandru, during the Railroad end, when you're still "institutionalised," you may throw around synth relay grenades and have those "insta-Synths" ( hehe ) fight for you. Actually, you can always use them but it's less hassle while you're not (yet) enemies with the institute. I do that sometimes, throw some of those in a nest of ghouls or raiders and have them duke it out among themselves while I'm watching the spectacle 

[fragger]

Art, I'm finding that video you posted the link to invaluable for negotiating my way through the post-teleporter chapters of the game (I put a shortcut to the video on my desktop). As much as I intended to refrain from consulting guides earlier in the game, having this one really helps to get the most out of the final act. Without it, there would have been much trial-and-error and reverting to earlier saves to get through to a satisfactory ending (I'm not there yet though). The various factions' quest lines become so spaghetti-like at this point that already I'm realizing how many false steps I probably would have taken.

Speaking as a frustrated architect, I'm really impressed by the design and layout of the Institute. Whoever it was on the dev team that came up with that did an impressive design job

[Art Blade]

indeed, it was probably the icing on the cake, kept hidden for a later wow-moment. The first time you see the Institute for yourself and are able to walk around in it, it truly is remarkable. Plus, the cleanliness as a stark contrast to the wasteland above ground. When I first saw the process, the fabrication of synths, I kept watching it for some time because it was astounding. Also, watching from right next to the apparatus how the skeleton transforms into a body when the robot works on the muscles and tissue.. amazing.

The vid is really good, that guy put up a guide that allows you to play most of each faction's main story quests up to the point when you can decide which way to continue. I'm glad I found and followed it. The second playthrough was on purpose ignoring all that, just to see what it would be like to follow exclusively one quest line. My choice, the Institute, was probably poor with regard to that because I had to play a massive chunk of the Railroad to get to the point that allowed access to the Institute. It would have been the same, trying to get to the Institute with the Minutemen, and likely the same with the Brotherhood. So, it might be different if one wanted to try exclusively the BoS, I suppose. However, it still was good gaming, so it doesn't really matter. The vid surely helps expand one's view of the FO4 universe as you get to see almost all of it. I'm glad that you're enjoying it

[fragger]

Yes, I certainly am I've reached that point now where I have all the factions on side, and where the chap in the video recommends doing a save. So I'm right at the crossroads - from this point, I could go with any one of the four factions. I would never have gotten to this decisive point, and more importantly, known to make a key save right at this critical juncture, without the help of that guide. It could have gone any number of ways otherwise and I would have been sure to have made an enemy of one or more of the factions.

The video didn't mention the Battle of Bunker Hill and I wasn't sure how best to proceed there, but another of that fellow's videos cleared that up. So I tipped off the BoS and the RR, then when I went in I just dodged around all the shots zipping back and forth during that wild three-way battle and made a beeline for the Synths. To stay in good with the Institute (for now) I sent all the Synths back with the Courser. I also cleaned up on BoS Power armor afterwards - I got enough for another four complete suits

It's been an epic odyssey to this point, and it still isn't over yet! Despite it's quirks here and there, it truly is a remarkable game. I've never invested so much time in a single playthrough of a FPS, or RPG, or whatever category this game belongs in. Only Civ V has taken up more of my time (and I'm still not sick of that one either), but that's a totally different animal.

While I've had access to the Institute I've been snaffling up every tool, instrument and bit of junk I could find. Especially those "Applicators" as they're a Fiber Optic source, and I want as much of that as I can get. The other Institute tools and collectible devices are also good sources of Aluminum, Nuclear Material and other valuable resources. I've gotten the Lone Wanderer perk up to Level 3, and if I wear my Deep Pocketed Heavy Combat Armor, I can get my carrying capacity up to 510. If I also do a weights workout and eat some Grilled Radstag, I can temporarily push it up to 545, so I can really lug some stuff around - for a while, anyway.

Nice twist concerning Shaun

[Art Blade]

yep

I'm almost through now with the Railroad, we wiped out the BoS and now I'm just a few moments away from blowing the Institute to smithereens.

[mandru]

You can't kill kids in FO4 but I had the satisfaction of knowing that little cadet on the Prydwin couldn't have survived the demise of the airship. 

The synth relay grenades were amusing.  I tend to be so trigger happy it was usually after an encounter when I remembered I could have called in support. 


One difference I'm finding with this time through the game is the appearance of Far Harbor weapons in the Common Wealth long before accessing that part of the game.  I keep finding fairly powerful radium rifle drops but none of the .45-70 ammo to use them. 

Where I'm not seeing weapons or armor pop up from any of the other parts of the game (that I've not played or previously had available) it makes me think the game has kept in memory my previous play through and is avoiding dropping any real spoilers for the current game.

[fragger]

The .45-70 ammo seems to be really rare. I didn't find any until I was quite a long way into the game, and even then I haven't found much. I don't seem to have any weapons that take it though. All my ballistic weps take either 5.56 (Assault Rifle), .50 (sniper) and 10mm (pistol). All my other weapons are energy ones, except for "Jake" (my Fat Man) and the "Quaddie" (my four-missile capacity launcher). I'm always bartering the .38, the .308, the .44 and the.45 ammo. The 5mm I keep for the rare occasions when I take my Minigun out to play

[Art Blade]

hehe 

I had the same issue, mandru. Finding those weapons first and for ages no ammo. I found out later that those were Far Harbor weapons. But well, since cheats are there for the taking, I never had much of a problem with finding ammo

Alright, I'm through with the Railroad. Now I think it's time to go back to my first character although I'll miss Porter Gage. In the end, I liked the Minuteman ending (with RR and BoS still there) the best.