So, I want to preface this by saying that this is by no means a DDA better post. I decided to try out BN for my recent Cataclysm phase explicitly because of grievances with aspects of the direction that DDA has been taken in which can't really be modded away. Honestly, The reason it's taken so long for me to try BN out is unironically because of the features it has advertised *not* having. Pockets, Proficiencies, Etc. Which I will expand upon later.
To give a little bit of background, I am not even, Like, A super experienced Cataclysm player. I play the game for a while a couple times a year when I get the itch and my experience usually amounts to me just sorta doing a usual survival loop of finding a vehicle, Going and looting towns, And continuing with a fairly careful style of play. But I haven't really engaged with any serious endgame content before. My past experiences have been such that usually, Even having a gun with enough ammo for it to not be an emergency weapon of last resort is a luxury. And I've liked that gameplay loop. Even without having gone into the depths of bionics or mutations or whatever else.
So I go into BN, Default settings, Playing a fairly standard survival start character. Bumping strength, Dex, And int a bit, Taking nearsighted, And a few food allergies in order to get a few perks, Nothing really all *that* crazy.
I died a few times fairly early on because I still needed to get back into the groove of things and I made some dumb decisions. This *is* still Cataclysm after all. However the run I have been playing for the past few days started with an immediate drug deal that gave me an uzi with quite a bit of ammo. And as it continued, Within the first ingame week, I had gotten all my food needs settled (This is, Admittedly, Not BN's fault. I was playing with Magical Nights, And killed a bulette that attacked me by magdumping into it a few times and then smoked the meat. So this could have also happened in DDA.), Had set up a refrigerator because the evac shelter has a grid set up, And most importantly, I found a fully working cargo truck, APC, And *tank*.
Things sorta spiraled from there. I am not going to deny that this has been fun. Largely because rolling over hoards of zombies in a tank to clear the road in order for me to get diesel from the singular gas station I have seen on the map which happens to be across the street from the mi-go mom and pop shop set up next to the doctor's office and tire store is actually peak fun.
At the same time though, The game sorta just feels absurdly easy to me compared to what I am used to. I went and cleared a lab and was thinking to myself that I could have gotten a tenth of the loot within it and it would have still been worth it because I now have more guns, Ammo, Chemicals, High level skill books, Etc. than I know what to do with. And aside from the very last level, There wasn't really anything all that threatening. And the things that were threatening were only threatening because I ran out of battery on my laser rifle and had to retreat.
I fully understand that I can configure things in the world settings to be harder. But that's where we get into the other things that are leaving me conflicted.
So, As mentioned. I *actively* enjoy the pockets system. I like the organizational aspect of being able to set up self contained kits of things I will need and be able to easily swap out whole sets of items. I like the fact that in a pinch I can drop my backpack in order to free up encumbrance without it also spilling all my items onto the ground. I like the fact that I can just ration my pills so that I take a set amount with me on an excursion and have a good idea when to come back. Etc. Etc. I can understand why people aren't a fan of this gameplay, And I don't think lesser of those people in any way. I am just explaining why I personally actively enjoy it. Additionally, Proficiencies are also enjoyable to me because they give me things to practice in situations where I can't do much else because I am healing or just waiting to get tired and go to sleep or whatever else.
These are engine level things and so I can't exactly mod or config them back in like I can with the broader difficulty.
So at this point some people might be asking why not just move back to DDA? Well, For one, Again, There's aspects of DDA's direction that I am not really a huge fan of, And aspects of BN's that I really really enjoy. Being able to drive a vehicle and not get totaled by a bush, For example. But the bigger thing that draws me in is moddability. DDA's EOC system allows for a lot, Yes. It is quite flexible. But it is also a pain to work with IMO. BN has Lua and while it is missing some features which are fairly critical to mod projects I have worked on for DDA (My playable mi-go mod uses a feature which allows a trait to make you look like any arbitrary tile.), It overall has more capabilities on account of Lua just being capable of things that EOCs are not. Lua is unironically the part that has me so conflicted.
If you're still with me after all of this, Know that I think BN is fun, And do not think it's a bad game at all. I have enjoyed this, But I guess I am just wondering if I am alone in wishing I could have something closer to modern DDA without the questionable engine level changes and with Lua, And if there is any hope at all for me here?
