When 98 percent of the items you find are only good for money, Fallout quickly goes from Wasteland Survival Simulator to Weight-to-Cap Ratio Manager. Not that I minded smugly passing by all those paperweights on the way to the cigarette carton section, but Fallout 4 game director Todd Howard says the decision won't be quite so simple next time around.
Howard said in a Bethesda.net interview that nothing in the game is only there to be "worth two caps." Fallout 4's intricate (yet optional) crafting system has finally done away with the concept of vendor trash.
"We have nothing like that. It also causes this very interesting economy in the game, where traditionally you'd pick everything up and sell it," Howard said. "And now you pick it up and you say, 'well, I can make this out of this, or I can make this out of this, or maybe I do want to sell it.'"
Near the beginning of the game, players likely won't recognize all the uses for the junk they find lying around. But as the crafting system opens up, so too will the potential within every tool box and storage closet.
"You realize that adhesive is an important element for building things, then you realize, actually, duct tape and glue tend to be more valuable than grenades in the game," Howard noted.
Fallout 4's release date is set for November 10, though Bethesda plans to keep supporting the game long after launch. That includes - but is not limited to - theFallout series' very first season pass.
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