Fallout Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Fallout Wiki
Forums: Index > Wiki discussion > FO3 & FNV Infobox Additions

Hi everyone,

I found just a couple of things in the GECK that I think could be useful to include in our character infoboxes. These are just minor pieces of info, but I'll explain the function of each piece and why we might benefit for including it.

1: Class[]

This is probably the least important of the bunch; however, I still think we can get some value off of including it. Class, according to the GECK's official website, does the following:

"Sets the class to a specific class (e.g., Doctor, Villager, VaultDweller, etc.). The class determines the tag skills and base attribute values."

Essentially, every NPC belongs to a class, and if "Auto calc. stats" is or has been selected for that NPC, their statistics will change based off of what that class is. For example, the default class, "VaultDweller", renders the SPECIAL "5,5,4,5,5,5,5" and the tag skills "Science", "Unarmed", and "Small Guns". Moreover, class can act as a form of categorizing NPCs, in some instances. For example, most named Pitt slaves belong to the "Slave" class, most Paradise Falls slavers belong to the "Slaver" class, and most raiders belong to "RaiderSmallGuns/BigGuns/Melee". Class also fits the content criteria, specifically relating to the SPECIAL character system, and furthers our goal of being the largest encyclopedia for Fallout information.

2: Combat Style[]

It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like. According to the GECK's website, combat Style is...

"... a form object that contains data that controls the combat propensities of an Actor."

This is important as Combat Style provides insight into: 1. What weapons (ranged or melee) an actor will use 2. What damage an actor will ignore when using a weapon (i.e. ignoring damage done to teammates when using a missile launcher) 3. Max targeting FOV (a radius in which actors will attack enemies) 4. Attack and Black chance 5. Power attacks 6. Other misc. data about combat

I think adding a page on combat style to explain what each style means and what the data being modified means would be necessary to add as well.

3: Physical Trails[]

I know on other gaming wikis, physical traits are included in infoboxes, but as of right now, we don't have any parameters for it. We do, however, have access to the following traits of NPCs in the GECK:

  • Eye color
  • Hair color
  • Height
  • Hair Style

These are easy, objective pieces of info which can easily be added to infoboxes without issue should we find any combination of them notable.

4: Aggression and Confidence[]

Both Aggression and Confidence provide insight as to when an NPC will begin and end combat and to whom they will attack. In the GECK's has the following to say about each:

  • Aggression: Governs when the actor will initiate combat. Select an aggression level from the drop-down list. Note that actors will never attack Friends or Allies.
  • Confidence: Governs how likely the actor will avoid or flee from threats.

An example of these working in-game would be an NPC with "Very Aggressive" Aggression and "Brave" Confidence; this NPC would attack enemies and neutrals on sight and would flee from combat only if severely outmatched. Just like Combat Style, a page explaining what each type of Confidence and Aggression mean would be necessary. Including "Assistance", who and NPC will help in combat, should also be included.

Summary[]

I highly suggest you read about each of the pieces of info on the GECK's website, as they can explain it better than I can. Here's a brief list of the "what any why" of things:

  • Class: Can affect skills. Categorizes NPCs
  • Combat Style: Provides crucial info as to what an NPC will do in combat
  • Physical Traits: Easy, simple data that serves to make our content more complete
  • Aggression/Confidence/Assistance: Provides crucial info regarding an NPCs AI, mainly in terms of combat

I'm just curious as to what, if anything, you think would make a good addition to our wiki. Please also ask me questions about any of the technical aspects of the data, or comment here. Thanks! 68.197.229.108 02:07, October 6, 2013 (UTC)

Discussion[]

As an encyclopedia, I can't think of one good reason why we shouldn't have that information here. As a side-note, we do include Aggression/Confidence/Assistance for creatures. Not sure why we don't include that for NPCs, as well. ForGaroux Some Assembly Required! 02:12, October 6, 2013 (UTC)

I'm inclined to support noting it somewhere. However I am concerned with the current infobox display in mobile skin and on the game guides app, it is extremely long already... not an issue in the desktop mode as its off to the side, but our mobile view is already creaking in overload. This is perhaps though a seperate discussion that needs to be had to find a solution to that problem. Were it not for the mobile view, I'd support 100% though. Agent c (talk) 19:49, October 6, 2013 (UTC)

A good point. Especially since census from Wikia shows that wiki viewers are relying on their phones more and more to log-on here. ForGaroux Some Assembly Required! 19:52, October 6, 2013 (UTC)

I also have thought of the mobile view of this site, but ultimately we cannot sacrifice necessary additions just for that. Our infoboxes indeed carry a lot of information already, but this forum clearly shows that we have missed quite a bit. All these are very important, in my opinion, except for physical traits, which I'd consider optional but great to have. --Skire (talk) 19:52, October 6, 2013 (UTC)

Not saying we shouldnt include it, just wondering aloud if theres another way... Maybe we could reduce the box a bit down by putting some "advanced" stuff down into a format like the interactions infobox, leaving the top infobox as a summary overview. Agent c (talk)
I agree with what you said earlier. Maybe we need a discussion about how to deal with the mobile display before we go ahead and add in even more data. 68.197.229.108 20:29, October 6, 2013 (UTC)
I still don't see it as a very urgent issue. Adding these bits of information will only create a little more scrolling than what there is already. For the game guides app (which I don't personally love at all), I'd agree with adding an expandable tab, with only the highest priority information showing by default. --Skire (talk) 21:33, October 6, 2013 (UTC)
Okay, well if we want to put off a discussion about dealing with the mobile display, then I guess it's back to finding a proper way of integrating these new features so long as we continue to get support for them. I think it might be a little to early to vote on what we want to add in and what we want to keep out, as there hasn't been too much community input; still, the vote will take about a week anyway, and it's clear that this is not too controversial and shouldn't stir up too much outrage should we start a vote. 68.197.229.108 02:12, October 9, 2013 (UTC)
Yeah, I'm questioning whether a vote is even necessary in the first place. Unless you want to do an entire overhaul of the infoboxes, adding content doesn't really need community consensus, as long as it's clearly constructive. If we're going to remove certain information from the infoboxes however, we'll need some more community input. --Skire (talk) 02:15, October 9, 2013 (UTC)

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────I fully support the addition of this information to our infoboxes. As Leon said, we run an encyclopedia. This information should be included to ensure that the wiki is as informative and helpful as possible. I am particularly fond of the aggression/confidence addition. Players who come here for strategy ideas might find that particularly useful. We shouldn't trade fullness of information for mobile formatting. It's the hard truth, but Wikia wasn't created on a phone. It is still desktop-based. As Wikia's tech wizards work on improvements for mobile formatting, we can adjust the infoboxes as necessary. Until then, include the information. ~ Toci ~ Go ahead, make my day. 02:43, October 9, 2013 (UTC)

I think we should create an infobox just for this page to showcase the new features alongside the old ones in order to make sure we're all on the same page in terms of how this would pan out visually. How should we go about doing that? 68.197.229.108 19:00, October 9, 2013 (UTC)

Including Factions should be helpful too as they'd detail how other characters are perceived (i.e. as enemies, neutrals, etc.) 68.197.229.108 17:10, October 12, 2013 (UTC)

Update: Example[]

Here's an example of what the final thing should look like. Obviously, it will look nicer when we get links for stuff like "factions" and "aggression". I'll be adding pages about this stuff real soon. I've already added info on class, which can be found on its page (Class) or by clicking the link in the infobox. How does it look? Any suggestions on changes? 68.197.229.108 00:02, October 13, 2013 (UTC)

I support these new additions. The more detail, the better. Enclavesymbol 09:46, October 21, 2013 (UTC)

I like the additions, and the infobox seems like the appropriate place for them, but I don't know... I have reservations. It seems like the infoboxes are getting too long for my liking. Is there a way we can have this (or perhaps other information) in a drop-down menu as opposed to being displayed in full all the time? Maybe something like the notable content template? FollowersApocalypseLogoōrdō āb chao 23:09, October 29, 2013 (UTC)

Yes. Every section of the infobox can be set to collapse and be collapsed on page load. The Gunny  380px-USMC-E7 svg 23:39, October 29, 2013 (UTC)
Advertisement