Considering it's arguably the most iconic outfit in the whole of the Fallout series, I've always found power armour a little underwhelming in FO3 and FNV. Aside from the prototype medic armour from FO3 which spoke to the player and administered chems, power armour sets function only as a means of preventing player damage.

What features would you add to power armour to make them more functional, memorable or immersive?

Well to make it immersive, we obviously needs immersive sound. And since power armors are like walking tanks, we needs loud (not too loud), heavy sounds to make it so that it actually feels like it makes an impact every time you make a step on the ground. The feels of heaviness it should give the players (make characters move a bit slower, etc).

To make it memorable, make the AI inside those suits to be more... communicative? The one from F3 rarely comments on anything, would love an option to modifies it so that if I don't like the AI talking too much, I have the option to "tune down" the amount of speeches it gives per minute/hour or something similar to that. And I like the option to increase/decrease the honesty and lying level (like the ones from Interstellar ), for humors (and maybe for serious scenarios even?). Hell maybe even a special armor with a unique AI (as your companion maybe? That when you take off the suit, it - the AI, can actually control the suit and follows you around like a normal companion that use whatever weapons you give it, and of course special dialogues and unique voice) that is different from the AIs from the regular power armors.

To make it functional, it should gives the players the "feelings" of wearing a mobile tank armor. Little/low caliber bullets like 9mm won't penetrates it, etc.

Yeah...they kind of do make the power armor feel like cardboard don't they.
Most of them do in my opinion anyway. as if they are cosplay costumes instead of the real deal. At least they look pretty cool ha!

@alonewolf003

Nice suggestion, never seen anyone incorporate something like a AI controlled suit. Maybe like a drone of some sort..What would be absolutely insane!

I do like the stealth suit AI from old world blues I thought that made an otherwise forgettable set of armour stand out!

The sound is a good idea i think, but also to add to what you said about small caliber bullets, ricochet noises from light weaponry would really add to that feeling of invulnerability. Sorta like the tank from fury!

some sort of mounted heavy gun system that works automatically like the turrets, basically make a huge tank like suit

I would make sure power armor is hermetically sealed which means by making it waterproof with air filters and an onboard oxygen supply so that foreign contaminants dont get inside the power armor essentially making it able to let you breathe underwater and be fully protected from rads.

Two words, my friends: Solar power.
It's clean, it's environmentally friendly, and it's swag. What more could you ask for?
... Well, besides laser eyes.

redmooose wrote:

Considering it's arguably the most iconic outfit in the whole of the Fallout series, I've always found power armour a little underwhelming in FO3 and FNV. Aside from the prototype medic armour from FO3 which spoke to the player and administered chems, power armour sets function only as a means of preventing player damage.

What features would you add to power armour to make them more functional, memorable or immersive?

I'd do what they're doing in Fallout 4.

Throw it out entirely. I get it, suspension of disbelief. Lets see...

There's no way to hold any ammunition on it, period. That's my number one problem. We can fix this by attaching various ammunition pouches to it, or hardcases. Second problem, your servos. Yeah you're a walking tank, but the moment someone with a sniper rifle decides he's had enough of your bullshit, those servos that are keeping you standing are gonna go bye-bye, and you're essentially canned food after that. Add some armor plating over those. Regardless, you'll be immune to most small calibers, probably up to .223. But when people start firing AP rounds at you, you're minced meat, kiddo. The bullet doesn't even have to go through, fragments of your armor will shred you up anyways.

As for weapons? Well you're essentially a tank, so why not carry what a tank has? Integrated SMGs somewhere as a sort of fire while you reload sort of ordeal. Your main weapon could be some giant ass thing, whatever it is.

Let's add to the fact that most modern Anti Armor munitions can kill you rather easily, especially HEAT Rounds. How do we stop those? We don't. Uhh... you can't really improve much on protection against that except by adding reactive armor plating. So you've got that on your power armor now, and even then, you're probably still gonna die if you get hit by something of that caliber.

Power Armor is just making you a walking target. Once some trained individuals catch wind of you, and they have proper weapons, you're done. Though, you could have no trouble taking on a band of raiders or powder gangers...

Now, powered armor in general? Well, I'd go with a powered version of the combat armor, alot like the Military is doing today with TALOS. Ceramic armor plates lightened by exo-skeleton and powered by a small fission powersource from fallout? You're manuverable, you've got MOLLE space for ammunition storage, a Heads Up Display, and plenty of protection over your vitals and nowhere unnecessary. You're golden. The idea of being a tank in general isn't the best - even modern tanks barely outclass what's made to kill them. It's why the invention of the tank didn't stop war. We've progressively made tank killing weapons to beat the tanks' defense system, and you sure as hell can't fit an Israeli trophy system on a power armor suit! It's why man portable, lighter armor systems would be way better suited for soldiers - especially if you give them anti armor weaponry.

But... Power Armor is still badass, and in Fallout it works. It's even got jet packs now!

Hey @matticus4205 , found a topic for ya

To make it immersive I would alter the animation to create a sense of heaviness in the power armours movement. I understand that the power armour is meant to make the user perform faster movement but the bulkiness of the suit should be made apparent in the movement animations. Aside from changing the animations I would alter the HUD and implement a suit AI as others have said. Since this is fallout, I would add a miniature reactor to power the suit instead of using Micro Fusion Packs. An integrated power fist would be useful for unarmed combat as well. Another immersive element I would include would be to allow for the armour to fall apart in layers as damage is sustained over time. That would really make the user feel like they are invincible up until the armour becomes weakened. And lastly a self destruct system would be interesting just to prevent others from ever finding use of the armour.

As @AceofSnakes said, the power armour is too bulky in general. While it essentially replaces a tank it still succumbs to the detrimental affects it has on a users movement. Now I want a way for exo-suit systems to be included in Fallout 4.

Wow @aceofsnakes, clearly a well thought out and comprehensive answer haha! Great reply though, I love the idea of on board weaponry, especially a power fist like @limitlessness suggested!

Already posted here but I thought of jetpacks and remembered its in fallout 4 already

Legit awsome

Stat increases that really make it feel as though the player is "super human" while wearing the armour. The mods like "Power Armour Scaling", "Powered Power Armour", Project Nevada's HUD overlays and other various mods that affect power armour stats are great templates for this.

Make it a double edged blade. Like power armour makes you really overpowered, but you have to power it with energy cells. And then include optional modes. A boost mode, that doubles stat increase, making you faster and stronger than ever before but eats up fuel a lot quicker, or a low power mode, which is very slow eating up fuel, but greatly impacts stat effects. Even add a no power mode, where the armour becomes like the NCR salvaged armour, just a suit of plate metal that does little more than Protect you from bullets.

It would make power armour what it was meant to be. High Tier Armour that requires the player to invest in it to really become useful, but is more than worth it in the long run.

I would love to see a expanded, full-on heads-up display as shown in FO4 displayed in FO3/FO:NV. HP, Rads, Power and AP is all fine and dandy yet I really wish radar was included. If radar was added I'd be totally happy.

I like what FO4 has tbh... bigger, stronger, and more immersive.

I would make it feel beefier and tankier. I want to feel the "power" of the armor. I want to hear thuds while I'm walking around in it.

To be fair I have a love hate relationship with power armor and as of that I support Ace's post as it explains my reasons for it as well. Seeing as how it makes you a walking tank, that right there immediately put's a target on your back. Most soldiers are trained to engage the threat that can possibly fuck them up the most i.e Mister Tons of Fun. So yes it can offer protection, to a degree. I'm pretty sure it can't just shrug off HEAT or even HE rockets for that matter. I mean Fallout has rocket launchers, it has lasers, it has .50BMG rounds. Those weapons should be able to kill power armor in reality. So how would I improve power armor? Simple, four words, MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor. Nuff said.

I would make it give you better weapon handling like accuracy and make your melee hits harder doing more damage

I would do what Bethesda did for Fo4, I would make it armor that goes over. ur normal armor. Not just a bulky set of clothes.

Bigger, Bulkier, Better.
*Typing random stuff because I need another word to post this*