Is it possible to play this without VATS? Is the game intended to be played with VATS?

[incredibilis]

Hello!
I've been thinking about buying this for a while now and after seeing my friends play 100's of hours of it, I think I'm about to.

The one thing that's been bugging me is VATS. When I watched YouTube videos of this and when I watched my friends play, I always see them using VATS a lot. It seems like a pretty cheaty unfun system and I don't really want to use it. Is it possible to play without it?

[Rez Elwin]

You don't need to use vats at all. It does have uses though, you can use it to execute a guaranteed critical attack which not only does increased damage but always hits.

[Black Album]

The easiest way to not use VATS in-game ..... is to not use it.
I've not mastered that technique as yet but maybe you'll have better luck.

[grakky2]

Sure you can play without VATS. As Todd mentions VATS is mostly for players who may not be proficient at twitch aiming/shooting; console aiming isn't the most accurate, PC gaming is very accurate with a mouse.

Originally posted by Rez Elwin:

You don't need to use vats at all. It does have uses though, you can use it to execute a guaranteed critical attack which not only does increased damage but always hits.

Yes this.
As Todd mentions VATS is mostly for players who may not be proficient at twitch aiming/shooting; console aiming isn't the most accurate, PC gaming twitch is very accurate with a mouse.

[raubrey]

I'm too lazy to write down the origin of VATS but in short it has become a target-assist for players whom aren't FPS players.

A large contingent of Fallout players are ARPGers -- they play for non-combat reasons.

This doesn't mean you have to do so. There are a variety of shooter mods available as well.

I should add, I do not know if the game is optimized for non-VATS as far as balance (NPC speed) but given many builds are not sufficient to keep VATS running most of the time, I would wager it is...other than perhaps critical shots. But again, a lot of builds don't rely on this either.

[Out Of Bubblegum]

Yes you can play without vats. I almost never use it. And I play on Very Hard or Survival. And I suck as a gamer. I have the reaction time of a turtle. I can never ever do PVP because I am too slow. But all the fallouts can be played without vats. The only time I use it is for the little flying enemies that dart around a lot. They jump too fast for me to hit without vats. There is a lot of support in the game for vats. Like guns with vats enhancements and perks. But there are plenty of other perks to take and other guns to use.

Also, I do not use any specialized build. I like to keep my character balanced through the game.

But I do play slow. I use cover a lot. I progress into the harder areas only after leveling. I never charge at a group. If you do want to always charge full speed ahead and always face the hardest enemies, then you will probably need to use vats. Unless you are very good. Like, pro gamer good.

[nobody willsee this video right?]

Originally posted by grakky2:

Sure you can play without VATS. As Todd mentions VATS is mostly for players who may not be proficient at twitch aiming/shooting; console aiming isn't the most accurate, PC gaming is very accurate with a mouse.

Originally posted by Rez Elwin:

You don't need to use vats at all. It does have uses though, you can use it to execute a guaranteed critical attack which not only does increased damage but always hits.

Yes this.
As Todd mentions VATS is mostly for players who may not be proficient at twitch aiming/shooting; console aiming isn't the most accurate, PC gaming twitch is very accurate with a mouse.

thank you for this comment.
most of the time the "twitch aiming/shooting" beyond my coordinating abilities.
stories could be told WHY i can't do that.
and so i get to enjoy the game along with everyone else.

and those infrequent times when i CAN shoot without vats i have a great feeling of accomplishment.

[nimrock]

Vats are cheep mechanisms to make game even more "for everyone" (just skip skill and batllefield awerness) but you can choose not to use it.
Personaly I think they should go away. Accurated shoots in F1/2 made sense couse those were turn based.
I hope they will abandon this idea in following Fallout titles.

[GOD RAYS ON ULTRA™]

VATS is useful for scanning the terrain. That's what I use it for. Also when I want cool kill-cam shot

[incredibilis]

thanks everyone

[DrNewcenstein]

Originally posted by nimrock:

Vats are cheep mechanisms to make game even more "for everyone" (just skip skill and batllefield awerness) but you can choose not to use it.
Personaly I think they should go away. Accurated shoots in F1/2 made sense couse those were turn based.
I hope they will abandon this idea in following Fallout titles.

Yeah, because being able to choose whether or not you use a particular game mechanic is wrong. /sarcasm

Seriously, how does someone else using VATS gim your personal gaming experience? It doesn't. You have the choice to not use VATS - exercise that choice if it tickles your pickle. If you have the choice not to use it, what's wrong with others having the choice to use it?

[TVMAN]

It's annoying as hell to shoot bugs like bloatflies without VATs, but yes it's entirely possible to go through the game without using it at all.

[Killzone]

I only use it when I want the kill cam.

Extra feature is extra, or something like that.

[Tearfulstab]

I use vats all the time as i mostly run in 3rd person so i find controller much better for moving around, and i like the kill cams. not that i cant hit my mark without vats, i have just played to much so the combat becomes trivial on any difficulty.
Vats is from back when fallout was turnbased and was used to hit specific bodyparts i still remember thoose awesome descriptions when getting crits back in F1.

[Hobo Misanthropus]

Originally posted by raubrey:

I'm too lazy to write down the origin of VATS but in short it has become a target-assist for players whom aren't FPS players.

A large contingent of Fallout players are ARPGers -- they play for non-combat reasons.

This doesn't mean you have to do so. There are a variety of shooter mods available as well.

I should add, I do not know if the game is optimized for non-VATS as far as balance (NPC speed) but given many builds are not sufficient to keep VATS running most of the time, I would wager it is...other than perhaps critical shots. But again, a lot of builds don't rely on this either.

You don't have to Mince words, from the Fallout 3 Post Mortem:

"VATS was originally supposed to just be an interesting killcam system, but ended up being more of a crutch because our shooter mechanics were so far behind contemporary FPS."


Fallout 4's Shooting mechanics are exponentially better, to the point where I'd say they're competitive with arcade hitscan shooters like CoD, Destiny and Halo, which is perfectly acceptable for an RPG, "Real" FPS games should lean more toward Battlefield/Arma for actual ballistic physics simulations, but that's just my opinion.

[stvlepore]

I use rarely. I use it when I cant see/find someone shooting at me. It does a good job locating them, usally behind a tree of something.