Unspectacular enemies and battle sequences?

[Jabbapop]

I was thinking the other night. And I feel like playing the devils advocate.

Most of the enemies in the game offer no real difference in tactics. Example. In many of the final fantasy games, when you attack enemies, you often have to formulate a certain method to take out one, and a different method to take out another. Certain enemies are have a greater resistance to fire weapons, so use a water weapon. In fallout, for the most part, all the enemies are to be taken out with the one tactic. Is there any real combat variety in the fallout games?

 

[Bradylama]

Fallout's combat is based on a tactical design rather than a strategical one like those in the Final Fantasy games.

The application and direction of firepower itself is a challenge, since not every bullet is going to hit it's mark. Having the enemy being taken out in any method is the basis for Fallout's roleplaying experience. If you don't allow the player to dispatch an enemy as he sees fit, you're playing the game for the player instead of letting the player play the game.

 

[Jabbapop]

it seems that the only main thing to think about when engaging in combat in fallout, then, is where you are going to stand in relation to your enemy(-ies). if you're only fighting one npc, then you've basically reduced the combat experience to balancing out how far you must be standing from your enemy to balance out your ability to hit him and your chance of being hit. figure out wether it's best to save your action points for shooting or getting closer. is this such a difficult thing to do as to merit a challenge worthy of game fundom though?

i can see when you have multiple enemies where it can be more of a challenge. should i shoot the weakly weaponed enemy who is right in front of me or the one with the high damage rifle further away. off the top of my head, i remember the final battle between horrigan and the other mutants who will come to protect him (if you suck and haven't gotten them to defect). i had to figure out the most suitable range to be from frank to not be hit substantially by him and the other mutants, while still being able to weaken a target. i had to decide wether or not to use my precious action points on frank or the less powerful, though a group of, other mutants.

in fallout 1, i remember the mission in the hub that you get from the guy whose house has been taking over by some bandits. in this encounter i had to make good use of the architecture, the doorway, so as not to be hit by some of the enemies while still hitting one.

so basically we have two things in the games which make the combat worthy of enjoyment: hiding behind walls and choosing who to shoot.

pertaining to semantics, i have trouble understanding the real difference between use of the word "strategy" and "tactic".

 

[Blackwing]

Strategy is planning a battle in advance taking all the possibilities into account. Strategy is what you're told to to at the start of the battle

Tactics is the adaption of strategy in the battle itself, taking reality into account.

So if a captain tells his troops they will have to take the top of the hill and they are most likely to be able to do that if they take control of the bunker at the foot of the hill, that's strategy.

But if, while the men are doing this, a sergeant notices that the enemy has already taken the buner and it would be better to blow the bunker up instead of taking it, that's tactics.

in short strategy = making decisions in advance, tactics = making decisions on the spot.

tactics is also usually on a much smaller scale

 

[Bradylama]

Bottom line, Strategy is a set of plans that creates the means towards a purpose, while tactics are the means.