ITT: We fix flawed/bad cRPGs to make them great

[buffalo bill]

fallout 2
1 player gets control of NPCs in combat
2 make combat hard (aiming for eyes is not always best option, better AI, enemies more deadly)
3 cut 90% of jokes and pop culture references

You just killed Fallout 2 for 13 year olds.

fixed

Which is strange, considering tons of us were in that age range when FO2 released and loved the references. It was an innocent time before smartphones and the Google, where getting the references and explaining them to friends made you cool.

And NPC control is an iffy thing. The characters in FO2 have relatively few lines of dialogue, at least compared to the lore dumping that NPCs do these days. A lot of their defining characteristics come from how they act in combat. You all know that Sulik is a fearless warrior, that Cassidy is a hardass gunfighter and that Myron is a cowardly bitch. Even their weapon proficiencies reinforce their characterizations. If you haven't learned by now not to give them burst weapons then I don't know how to help you.

I don't care if having silly disneyland nonsense made the game somehow more special for 13 year olds in 1998 because they could tell their friends that they recognized the ET or Austin Powers references (for real, yuck)--they made the game worse, especially as a sequel to a great game that took its setting seriously. Fallout 2 is also great in my opinion, but these are not good features of that game.
Also, I get that having specific NPCs occupy specific combat roles gives them more unique flavor, and that is a good thing, but that can be accomplished by gating their skill progression from the player (as happens anyway). Also, this argument doesn't really move me much for this specific game: Marcus should be the Big Guns Guy, but giving him any kind of burst weapon (as you point out) is asking for trouble. And Myron being a useless bitch in combat is the reason I suspect just about everyone who plays the game doesn't keep him to the end.

 

[skyst]

I don't care if having silly disneyland nonsense made the game somehow more special for 13 year olds in 1998 because they could tell their friends that they recognized the ET or Austin Powers references (for real, yuck)--they made the game worse, especially as a sequel to a great game that took its setting seriously.

Fallout 1 has plenty of pop culture easter eggs. It is not as egregious as FO2, but you still have nods to South Park, The Simpsons, Dr. Who and numerous books and movies. And then you have the fucking miserable Robin Hood in the Hub, come on. The tone is certainly different between the two games, but you can't prop FO1 up as a game that took its setting seriously. The Fallout franchise and even the post-apocalypse (in general) has always been kinda goofy.

 

[buffalo bill]

the post-apocalypse (in general) has always been kinda goofy.

Spoiler

Yeah, pretty goofy.

The cultural references in Falout 1 are less overt, less constant, and generally better hidden. But anyway, it looks like you are ageeing with me that such references make the game worse.

 

[KK1001]

Planescape Torment:
1. Rework the encounter design entirely, especially the later game stuff. Obviously won't be as complex as BG2, but having some mages or ranged enemies would give the combat some variety.
2. More stat/dialogue checks for strength/agi. As it stands you can get pretty much the entire experience with max int.
3. If I could add anything else, it would be to visit one or two more planes to breakup the combat heavy third act. To me the pacing of the final part of the game always felt a bit rushed.

 

[BlackGoat]

Take most games, add TOEE or KotC combat.

 

[NeoKino]

Every game with RTwP combat, replace it with superior turn based combat.

Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
1. Real stat system with actual c&c, no more maxing every stat and skill through grinding and training in order to become a ubermensch.
2. Revamp Speechcraft and Barter system with more speech checks and less retarded persuasion.
3. An actual ending after the perceived goal is completed in order to show the consequences your actions made on the game world.

 

[Sigourn]

2. Revamp Speechcraft and Barter system with more speech checks and less retarded persuasion.

Shame on me for just now tying 2 and 2 together.

The reason we have the retarded Speechcraft system is because Morrowind doesn't let you pick what the hell you are going to say... because you never say anything. "Intimidate" is just intimidate, "Persuasion" is just persuasion, and "Bribe" is the one that comes closest to a reasonable mechanic, and even then it's fucking stupid ("Bribe 10", "Okay, I'll hear you", "Bribe 1000", "You think I'm cheap, you disgusting N'Wah?").

Being able to speak in a TES game would be nice for a change.

 

[Jaesun]

Fallout: New Vegas ported to the Fallout 2 engine.

The way it should have been.

 

[laclongquan]

Fallout 3:

1. Delete every thing displayed as written forms in the game. Priority is dialog, quest, background, setting, then item description.
2. Rewrite that. Preferably with Obsidian team but NO input whatsoever about writing from Bethesda.
3. Profit

There's a mastermind control writing direction in Beth corp and (s)he put the deep, sharp, decisive claws into anything of that aspect in Beth games. Those game's writings dont fall down to that level by neglience or lack of talent. no, that's well planned, and long term direction, and very powerful will driving that effort.

 

[undecaf]

Fallout: New Vegas ported to the Fallout 2 engine.

The way it should have been.

Indeed. Although, I think New Vegas could have worked (better than it does) already with Wizardry 8 style (in similiar fashion, not verbatim) combat.

Being able to speak in a TES game would be nice for a change.

With Bethesda's writing, keywords with player filling in the gaps works better - at least for that "persuasion/intimidation/bribe" thing.

 

[Jimmious]

1 player gets control of NPCs in combat

I dunno. Party based combat is fun, but I did like it in Fallout 2 that the companions - or followers, which ever way - felt like companions (with their faults and all) rather than my puppets and pawns.

I agree 100%. The fact that you cant directly control the companions in FO/FO2 was (and still is) pretty awesome for immersun.
I enjoy my tactical turn based games, but the FOs were not such games..

 

[Harry Easter]

Oh, this is fun:

Beyond Divinity:

1. Implement the system of OS into the game, so it becomes turn-based and you don't overlook it, when your character is about to croak.
2. Make the Interactions and the Soulbound between the characters a mechanik. The better they understand each other, the stronger they get and the results should influence the ending a bit.
3. Revamp the graphics, especially the character models.


Two Worlds II:

1. Cut out the medieval village and skip to the final area.
2. Give these area quests and show, that this was the old landscape from part 1.
3. Rework the keyword layout for, well, everything, from the quests to your inventory. Seriously, who puts this on the F-keys?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Ultima Underworld 1 & 2:

1: Add modern OS support.
2: Fix the currently known bugs (inventory bugs, stuttering digital SFX, etc)
3: Add more interface options and support (redefinable keys).

Legend of Grimrock 1 & 2:

1: Redo the spells so that every school of magic is viable.
2: Redo the skills and traits to actually make most of them useful.
3: Profit.

Anachronox:

1: Find Tom Hall.
2: Have him do Anachronox 2.
3: Win-Win.

Chaos Strikes Back:

1: Release it on the PC.

Every game Bethesda has released since 2004:

1: Kill it with fire.
2: Nuke it from orbit.
3: Exterminatus!

 

[catfood]

Gold Box:

1. A good interface.

That's it.

 

[Reinhardt]

Wizards & Warriors

1. Make this fucking thing playable on modern day pc.

 

[Sigourn]

Fallout: New Vegas ported to the Fallout 2 engine.

The way it should have been.

You are free to suggest changes to the already existing game ("add DR on top of DT, like jsawyer did"), but not something like "scratch the whole game and make it on a different engine".

That said, my New Vegas improvements:

1. Restore all cut content and finish it.
2. Tweak the game's balance for a more hardcore experience.
3. Flesh out the wasteland so that it doesn't feel as empty or half-assed. No more locations were the only useful thing is a Sunset Sarsaparrilla Star bottlecap.

 

[an Administrator]

Divinity Original Sin: Remove random loot
VTM:B : Add more content to Chinatown
Wizardry 8: Remove level-scaling

 

[Ranarama]

All fallout games:

* Increase Gammaworld influences. Player having mutations, weirder mutated creatures, facist anti-mutant faction.

* Increase size of vaults, make them more like Paranoia.

Actually I think what I want is both a Gammaworld RPG and a Paranoia RPG.

 

[Reinhardt]

Player having mutations

It's not how radiation works.

 

[Skittles]

Alpha Protocol:

1. Cop level design and stealth/disguise mechanics from Bloodmoney.
2. Make all bossfights optional (conversation based or clever solutions should always be available).
3. Increase Thornton's smugness 300%.

 

[Zero Credibility]

PoE:

1. Use a tried and working PnP system instead of a rushed homebrew made specifically for a crpg. Use D&D or Pathfinder or something similar as faithfuly as possible, only adapting where necessary.
2. If you are doing a RTwP game try to make the actual combat feel as close to that of ie games as possible because you are very unlikely to make anything even remotely as good on your own.
3. Put Avellone in charge of writing and stay out of his way.

 

[RoBoBOBR]

There is a mod that lets you control party members in Fallout 2, it's an option in SFall. Setting ControlCombat=2 in ddraw.ini will let you do that (latest SFall). Be advised that your companions seem to benefit from your tagged skills and traits, e.g. if you tagged small guns Cassidy will be waaay good with shooting stuff.

 

[buffalo bill]

Actually I think what I want is both a Gammaworld RPG and a Paranoia RPG.

Check out caves of qud for a gammaworld rpg--my favorite game right now.
Some kind of Paranoia RPG would be amazing but probably hard to implement well--seems that the game mechanics in tabletop mostly depend on character-character interactions, which would be difficult unless designed really intelligently or with something like a nearly-general artificial intelligence.

 

[buffalo bill]

There is a mod that lets you control party members in Fallout 2, it's an option in SFall. Setting ControlCombat=2 in ddraw.ini will let you do that (latest SFall). Be advised that your companions seem to benefit from your tagged skills and traits, e.g. if you tagged small guns Cassidy will be waaay good with shooting stuff.

awesome

 

[octavius]

Ultima Underworld 1 & 2:

1: Add modern OS support.
2: Fix the currently known bugs (inventory bugs, stuttering digital SFX, etc)
3: Add more interface options and support (redefinable keys).

Minor quibbles IMO.

Chaos Strikes Back:

1: Release it on the PC.

There is a fan made conversion. I've only heard good things about it. And being converted from the Atari ST version it should be more hard core than the Amiga version (no Magic Map to help navigating).