[Emperor Smeat]

VATS system getting overhauled for Fallout 4.

Fallout 4 will feature an overhauled V.A.T.S. system in an effort to make the feature more exciting for players, director Todd Howard has revealed. Introduced in Fallout 3 as a compromise between the series turn-based roots and real-time reinvention, V.A.T.S. allowed players to freeze time and target enemies’ individual body parts by spending Action Points, or AP, from a limited pool. The system enabled a bit of old-school tactical thinking from players, allowing them to pause the action, weigh their percentage chances of success, and focus on weak points or limbs to do extra damage or cripple enemies for an extra advantage. Many of those basics will remain intact for Fallout 4, but with a few crucial changes.“We found some ways to make it a bit, not a ton, but a bit more dynamic,” Howard told The Telegraph in a recent interview. For starters, time will no longer freeze completely. Instead, Howard explained, it’ll continue to progress in slow motion, putting a ticking clock on your decisions. “It’s very, very slow and you’ll see the percentages change because the person is moving behind or coming out of a wall. So queuing up the shot at the right time matters.” Also of note: Howard said critical hits will no longer be randomized, though details on that are a bit fuzzy. “You assign which shot is the critical one and you load up that bar. So it’s a little bit more under your control, not a lot, but just enough to make it feel better,” he said.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...-might-expect/