Everything in the world of Fallout is now useful. And that’s exactly the problem.
As you may have heard, Fallout 4 now has a robust crafting system. Anything you find, no matter how broken down or random it is, can probably be used to modify your weapon, customise your settlement, or perhaps even to make some chems. This is a cool idea! It means that you’re constantly scrounging and making use of whatever you can, and that feels like an appropriate detail for the post-apocalypse. Macguyvering junk is probably how people survive in a world like this. It makes sense, at least on paper.
But in practice? It means I’m constantly drowning in stuff I can use, because the wasteland is littered with crap. It’s just…everywhere. In every corner, in every crevice, in every safe: there it is. Garbage. Useful garbage, hilariously enough.
![Fallout 4 Has A Ton Of Junk, And It’s Stressing Me Out](https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/11/1513051581179367493.gif?quality=75?quality=75)
Every single cup, lamp, scrap, and tin can I come across could be used for something down the line. Do I pick it up? How much is too much? How do I fight the impulse to take EVERYthing with me, just in case? That’s what RPGs have trained me to do, after all: hoard, hoard, hoard. But it’s a vice that’s proving detrimental in Fallout 4, because the more I pick up, the more I have to sort through my inventory. I feel like I become over-encumbered constantly now, even when I’m being picky about what I take with me, or when I make sure to use the game’s storage options. It’s making the game feel like an inventory management sim, and that’s not very fun at all. I don’t want to be a hoarder, but Fallout 4’s design really encourages me to be one. It’s driving me up a wall. I’m spending way too much time staring at a menu, when I should be exploring the wasteland!
I’m hoping that with time, I can overcome my item impulse and just learn to ignore most of Fallout 4’s junk. Sure, I might be able to finagle that 9kg fire extinguisher into my shotgun. But is it worth it, really?
Comments
84 responses to “Fallout 4 Has A Ton Of Junk, And It’s Stressing Me Out”
The game is much more fun if you search for things when you need them. Eg. Don’t pick up cups unless you know you need ceramic. It makes for fun little missions to places you’ve already been.
Thanks for this.. My first thought last night was ‘do I really need all these coffee cups?!’
Yes! I don’t understand why people need to horde in video games. Just take what you need and come back if you need more. Except for Megalixirs you can never have enough of those.
But what if you CAN’T come back? What if that thing you’re thinking of chucking out is actually really good and you just haven’t found its use yet? WHAT IF?
YOU BASTARD!!! Now I’ll always have a conflict 😛
Lmao he has a point. There is always a possibility that you can comeback or you are too far to come back etc. But i can relate to this article. Its a stressful situation and we just want to explore.
I’ve started fast travelling and storing a lot of stuff at home base though. Doesn’t take too long if you’re REALLY overburden and gives you the chance to only need a few key weapons instead of hording EVERYTHING 😀
Very true. What I actually found last night (running in to the same issue of picking everything up) was that actually looting bodies and bins was more enjoyable than “Grab All”. It’s the first time I’ve felt like a scavenger in a game. Really feel like I’m rummaging through looking for what I need among all the junk 🙂
This. Definitely this. Typewriters for springs, gears and screws. Abraxo for acid and antiseptic for instance. Picking up random junk *really* weighs you down, but being specific can be as rewarding as an actual mission when you come back with say, 10 Abraxos and find yourself swimming in an ocean of antiseptic.
So true. Once I visited the work benches and actually understood what I was aiming for, it became a much more focused activity.
Yep – when you can tag what you need that little magnifying glass next to the name of an object makes its a simple decision of “do i pick this up or not?”
I heard if you pick up a limb or severed head of a Raider or other enemy you and “trade” a ton of crap into it, pick it up and get around having to do the back and forth to dump crap so often.
What’s stressing me out at the moment is the horrendous controls on the PC version. I feel betrayed. I might actually have to play fallout with an Xbox controller!
What’s wrong with the controls? Except for L-Alt being the defauilt melee attack, I haven’t had any issues so far.
They just don’t feel as smooth and intuitive as an XBox controller (which is how I’m playing on my PC at the moment).
To me, it feels like they simply threw darts at a chart of a keyboard and called it a day.
Really irritating as BioShock Infinite had good keyboard and mouse controls so what’s Bethesda’s excuse?
Not having that much issue EXCEPT the stupidity of binding grenade and melee to the SAME DAMN BUTTON.
“Oh you want to throw a grenade? MELEE ATTACK!!!!”
“Oh you want to melee? Let me drop a mine for you instead!”
It can get very, very frustrating.
Hence why I used the key-dart-bard analogy. The control scheme on the XBox controller is great, they clearly worked its button economy out.
The fact that the commands are not independent on the keyboard is clearly a sign of laziness, cost cutting or both.
What wore my patience out was the Pip-Boy being unusable navigation wise and they still used the D-Pad layout for my “favourite” weapons.
Seriously, that is what the number keys are for and there are 10 of them. I should not have to repeatedly press (say) 4 to cycle through my hand guns. It actually makes it slower than the D-Pad on the controller for crying out laud.
I may be missing something from your statement, but I have all my common weapons favorited and on the number keys from 1 – 9. I am using 0 (the default) for stimpack. 3 = my melee weapon, 4 = pistol, 5 = rifle, 6 = sniper rifle.
On PC, if I open my inv and press Q on an item, it brings up a cross of slots, and you can click in a slot to assign that item to that hotkey. Then you can directly switch to that item with the hotkey, or you can use the “favorite” key (F by default I think?) to bring that up to switch etc.
The Xbox controller grenade/melee works pretty well actually. Took a bit of experimenting but I kinda like it. Tap for melee, hold to initiate your selected throwable, hope it isnt a grenade which you then cook too long…
It doesn’t work well on keyboard, no idea about controller. If you’re in the heat of battle and you hold it that quarter second longer accidentally or you’re frantically pressing it too fast to melee, it drops a mine or throws a grenade instead of meleeing unfortunately. It’s a *very* poor choice to combine the two. Grenade should have had its own seperate button, given that the keyboard has 101 buttons on it. I understand controllers are limited, but keyboards are not.
Yeah I can imagine. I cant stand using keyboards for games. I hate having to move my hands around and even the standard AWSD controls feel off to me now.
Mmm, one combo that is annoying is in workshop mode i have to use the mouse to point at a scrap-able object, then hit R to scrap it , then Enter to confirm.
Three actions (one of them requiring my hands off the mouse) to scrap an object? ughh…
you can just use E in place of Enter to confirm scrapping. makes it a lot easier 🙂
I thought I’d tried that and it didn’t work, but I might be thinking of something else. If that works then that’s a lot more convenient!
If you are a left hander, its a nightmare. You can’t redefine all the keys. For example, opening a drawer, desk, toolbox etc is always E. Most of the workbench keys are not remappable. I cant assign any of the numeric keypad to actions I want. It drove me insane last night!
It really dampened my first impressions of Fallout 4. They have basically prioritised console over PC. Heck, when I first started the game, I couldn’t even use the mouse and keyboard because I had a controller plugged in to my PC (there was literally no mouse cursor). Most games allow the use of either device without having to change it in the settings.
The graphics are good but not great. They are nowhere near as good as the Witchers and the engine runs worse as well (on my AMD at least and that’s with GodRay down to low).
I have had a couple of bugs, the worse one was when I left the vault and couldn’t move off the vault platform. Couldn’t even press Tab, but I could still fire. Exiting the game fixed that one. The other bug was some wall glitching behind Cogsworth when I was talking to him, no biggy.
I have no doubt I will spend countless hours in this game because I love the Fallout series and open world FPS/RPGs, but I can’t see this being GOTY on PC. I reckon the Witcher has that sewn up.
Yep. I’m not a lefty, but I use asdf for movement, so when I’m in workbench mode, I can’t move forwards any more (it seems to be bound to W for forward in workbench mode, but isn’t “bound” any more for me etc).
The dartboard analogy some people are using feels appropriate.. it’s pretty inconsistent.
Left-handed too- I’ve always used the arrow keys for movement since way back when, but this game makes it way more difficult than it has to be I think. I love pc gaming though and heck consoles too, but I’ve always had trouble with shooting using a controller, so I stick with pc. So i got the idea to use the key remap software by Razer since I use a Razer keyboard. It has helped a lot, its easy to use, and it loads the Fallout profile that I made when Fallout loads, then swaps back to default keyboard after the game closes. It’s called Synapse and can be had at Razer’s website. The only thing is, I am still having trouble at the workbenches- I can’t highlight objects and move them. I mean, like after building something I can’t move it I can only just drop it right by the bench. I can’t explain it real well, and I don’t know why it’s not working.
Oh and the irresponsiveness (it’s a word now) of the menus to the mouse pointer need to go over the items a couple times before it realizes that you might not want to select the same thing again.
This.
That half second delay is a minor annoyance thats really noticeable
I hate to agree but it’s true… the PC controls are un-intuitive. Especially in construction/workshop mode. Why can’t I use my mouse to place items? Why do I need to press enter to confirm scrapping items? (this one really bugs me cos you have to use the mouse to hover over an item and then use your right to hit enter).
You don’t have to press enter. Any time it tells you to press enter you can press e instead.
I feel the control scheme is all over the place and I’m constantly looking at the keyboard to see what button to press. Also not a big fan of the new VATS system where the enemies continue to move towards you as you are targeting. I used to like taking my time and selecting which body part to target but now I fell like I’m rushing too much.
+1. I played for a few hours with the keyboard and mouse originally. I found that the exploration and fighting was awesome but town management, using workbenches etc sucked to no end.
I switched to the 360 controller and then it was reversed…
Now I’m back to K+M and think it’s the better of two evils…
This is the first game which has made me glad I purchased a Razor Naga a few months ago. Any key that required me to take my hand off the mouse has been mapped to it
I always play with xbox controller on Pc. Im on Pc for frame rates and beautiful graphics 😀
Hey guys, if you are having movement related issues.
Try this http://files.shanelenzen.com/fix-fallout-4.html
It’s a few lines of text you can add into the .ini files to make mouse movement better. Works well.
I have been grabbing everything and then spending hours and hours placing them neatly around my little settlement – best house building simulator EVA!!!
Just dump it in your work bench, it even has a convenient button that says “deposit all junk in the work bench”. and then it will automatically break stuff down for you when you need it.
Why would you bother grabbing everything when you can just fast travel back there for resources?
The way I’m doing it is taking ammo and maybe weapons depending on what I perceive as a valuable weapon, then moving on. It’s not like I’m being penalised for coming back later for crafting resources.
With F3 I usually grabbed everything then stashed the junk somewhere near the entry in case I needed it later. I’ll probably do that with F4 as well.
That makes sense too.
I think I’ll wait for a junk management mod along with a few bug fixes.
Real tempting though.
This is what I did in W3. Well, weight cheat really. I like the idea of crafting but not going back and trying to find some obscure item, just feels like a waste of time.
I’ve found it easier to build up a settlement and lay out a few scavenging tables and set up trade routes. Your settlers will, over time, gradually collect all kinds of resources (Including incredibly useful, less common ones such as copper and crystal). It’s a bit of a pain to develop a couple settlements, but once it’s done you get a steady trickle of junk, giving you more time to adventure.
Also, go to the workstation and pull out all the pre-war money that gets stuffed in there… It’s insanely wasteful to break it down into cloth. It’s better using it to buy resource shipments for things you really need.
That said, I’m still a horrible hoarder. But I’ve found tagging resources helps a whole lot. It’s only half the wasted inventory space!
So you’re having problems with too many items to pick up….is this your first Bethesda game?
I ended up completing quests in advance because of this. i set up a heap of stuff in my settlement before I even knew I had to do it as a quest. It certainly adds a new dimension to grinding.
You guys are stressing over nothing. Break it down/put it in a storage container at your community. Simple. If you don’t want to pick up the coffee cup- and prepare yourselves for this- you don’t have to! Isn’t it amazing? The ability to just not pick up an object you don’t want to. What a world we live in.
I find the UI for this stuff is pretty atrocious too. Not surprising as Bethesda don’t have the best track record of good UI design. But this is the first one where I’ve felt that weakness so keenly and so early in a game.
Considering how much stuff there is to track, there’s actually very little useful information shown on screen when you need it.
Much prefer Dragon Age: Inquisition. And that let you craft and set things up and sort the gear of your party too.
I agree the controls are pretty annoying on PC, but my biggest gripe so far is the tedious methods for salvaging all that stuff.. I should be able to walk up to a workshop table and then cycle through my stuff and say “salvage”.. instead, I can do it individually at the various workbenches, or I can drop it on the ground, then go into workbench mode, then target the item and salvage it.
I think there’s a perk further down one of the trees that lets you salvage away from the workbench… I really hope that’s true =D
But the point of fallout was horde everything. I horde to the point I don’t want to sell stuff and only keeping them in my main base. Probably have 20-30 10mm pistols already before even reaching diamond city.
At least its not changing the way to approach combat. In MGSV there were so many creative and fun ways to take people out yet i would always end up knocking them out or putting them to sleep because i always need more soldiers back at base if i want to get better gear.
The BIGGEST challenge for me right now is overcoming the new ‘highlight box, see everything thats in it and move away’ function without naturally highlighting, hitting A to open, and then B to close (playing on the Xbone). Seems like I’m continually looking at my pip-boy when all I want is the box inventory to disappear! I suppose this’ll come naturally at some point …
Yep I’m doing exactly the same (Xbox controller on PC). Was replaying FO3 just before this so my brain is wired currently to press B to close the inventory box. Especially frustrating since I like the system of just walking away better haha
I loot absolutely everything and throw it all in toolboxes at Sanctuary never to seen again. Its amazing how much armor one of those little red toolboxes can hold!
I know this isn’t really the thread for discussing it, but the more I’m reading the more interested I am in trying this out, can anyone tell me the best place to buy a physical copy of this for PC at a reasonable price?
Can only find it for $80, thats a bit ordinary.
The physical copy is a lie. 5GB on disc, 19GB download.
Oh really? 19GB to download? Not much point really, but still my internet is not the fastest so regardless that’s going to be an overnight job. Was hoping the physical copies were still slightly cheaper than digital as steam was asking $79 but I thought I recalled seeing JB or K-mart or similar offering it for $59?
I think target is still selling it at $64.
Although I just got EB to match it, as they are closer for me.
Is target actually selling FO4 for PC, took a look at their website just now and couldn’t see anything listed?
Just checked their catalogue, yeah not on PC sorry mate, picked mine up on console, didn’t realise they didn’t do PC anymore by the looks of it.
Big W is showing a separate in store price ($69) for PS4 but doesn’t say anything for PC (or Xbox) so not sure about what’s going on there.
Yeah, JB had preorders for $59. I think their normal price is $69? Might be on sale for $59 though, I’m not sure. You should be able to get a key from ozgameshop or similar for $59. Much better than USD79 on steam.
Thanks guys, appreciate the responses, will check it out and hopefully start downloading that ridiculous patch tonight!
To anyone interested, I ended up getting it from EB games price matched to Big W’s $69.
At some point people will stop appropriating their own choices and anxiety and layng blame at things not responsible for them. At some point.
And pigs will most definitely fly at some point. 😛
I cant work out how to scrap things :'(
You have to be inside a settlement area (like Sanctuary), enter workshop mode (hold select if using Xbox controller) and then when you highlight an object, like a broken chair, toilet etc there’ll be an option to scrap it.
I got that but more the junk in my inventory, i transfer it over to the workbench but does it autoscrap it? Like coffee cups, empty plastic bottles, wrenchs etc
It doesn’t autoscrap it per se, but if you need to make something that requires any of the components that your junk item is made of it will use it and then store the rest. For example if you created something that needed 1 gear, it might take the gear from an adjustable wrench and then store the 2 steel from it that wasn’t needed.
Ah that makes sense, I started to understand it but I do wish it was a bit less confusing, is anyone else finding the scrapping strange? I am enjoying it nonetheless but i feel like im stabbing in the dark when I get back and hope I have enough copper to salvage from junk
Yeh it definitely isn’t the most intuitive system. And copper is basically the rarest common-use thing out there.
I often find I clean a building of enemies, loot all I can, find a safe, run out of weight capacity and return to Sanctuary, dump everything and return. Then I return again because I’m always short of copper and I can’t remember what junk has copper in it.
It’s the obscure ones that get me. I have a TON of junk in storage, but I still need Copper, Aluminium and screws. Like, all the time..
Know WHAT junk I should scavenge from there requires external (out of the game) effort.
Have you even played fallout before? 😛
I take everything, i honeslty do not leave a single item behind anywhere. I fill up, then I fill my companion up, then once I’m done with the location I fast travel back to base camp, dump all the stuff into my workbence (as easy as pushing one button) and away I go. My main base camp has all my materials that I use, then I have a secondary one where i dump all my extra armour and weapons until I sell it off.
I’m pretty bad with collecting everything, borderline OCD I think. When I get to a town I methodically check each and every building. I’ll get to a town, figure out a corner, then go house by house cleaning it out, when I fill up, i note the house i’m at, fast travel back home dump my stuff, then go back and continue.
Jumped on last night with the goal of doing the first Minute Man mission. 4 hours later I still hadn’t got to the factory to clear out the bandits. So many distractions. I spent 30 minutes running around looking for one more aluminium can to upgrade my gun. Ended up finding an aluminium tray instead. Dogmeat needs a backpack or something because when I ponder about where he is keeping all the junk I’m piling into his inventory my mind goes to anus. That poor dog farts cans and shits telephones.
HA! I had not even thought about this! I cant look at dogmeat the same ever again.
When I come across this problem in some games, I usually just look up a guide on GameFAQs regarding item procurement; not a walkthrough or anything, but just a guide to items/crafting in the game. That way I don’t spoil anything story-wise and I don’t waste time collecting worthless items that are irrelevant for the class/character I’m playing as.
Hot tip:
Drop it all on the ground at your settlement, then scrap it. It reduces the items to their core componentry value, adds it to your settlements resource tables, and removes them as a weighted item in your inventory.
Take it all back, drop it, scrap it. Tadaaaa, you have resources at your base that you no longer need to manage.
what do the lunch boxes do…?
they have no weight, but have a modest value… WHY??
Lunchboxes are required to build bottlecap bombs
stress less!
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/196/?
easy fixed, take everything, get to a fast travel point, fast travel back to where you are basing yourself, store all in the workshop (which breaks down junk as you need it rather than having to do it manually) fast travel back to the point you were up to, continue to collect. thats my process. before this i defeated a raider with a mini gun, i took her mini gun so i had two and i may have dropped it in the wastes for space to carry food resources.
Fallout 4 allows you to actually label items in your workbench as ingredients to look for. For example, I have it mark every piece of loot that has adhesive so I make sure and pick that material up. It places a magnifying glass icon next to the item name when you see it out in the world, so you know that item has a material you need in it.
How could you be revisiting places already with how many locations there are in the game? It’s only been a few weeks.
Does anyone know if the folders that weigh nothing that are empty do anything or are they triggered by a mission, like the tech documents or viable blood samples?