While re-watching the Fallout 4 footage from E3 in advance of QuakeCon, I noticed something missing. When the Pip-Boy is showcased, and the character scrolls through his inventory past his weapons, there's no CND shown on the screen: the little meter on Fallout 3's Pip-Boy that indicates what condition your weapon is in. Same goes for the character's armor and clothing. There's no condition shown during the weapon modding portions of the footage, either.
On the other hand, we can see that the character's power armor, while it doesn't have a CND meter, does have a health value:
At Quakecon on Friday, I mentioned this to Pete Hines, VP of Marketing and PR at Bethesda Software, and asked if there had been a change to the repair system. "Not talking about it yet," he said almost before I was done asking.
"So it has changed. It's different?" I asked.
"Todd [Howard] said we're not going to go into details about it yet."
Hmm, okay. In the Fallout 4 footage we saw today, one of the character's weapons was extremely rusty. And the footage also showed that while using the Pip-Boy, you can move your arm around to examine the Pip-Boy from different angles. I asked Hines if the repair system might now be a visual system, where you could look down at the weapon in your hand to determine if it needed fixing based on visual clues.
"Todd said don't talk about it yet," repeated Hines.
Despite the lack of answers, I actually felt relieved that the refusal to discuss the subject was so adamant. They're hiding something, which is good, because I was honestly afraid that the repair system might have been removed altogether.
That would be terrible: we all know the feeling of dismay in Fallout 3 when your favorite weapon starts to deteriorate, the extra scrounging you'll do to find a duplicate weapon to use for parts, the amount of caps you'll give to merchants who can repair your gear for you, and the points you'll spend building up your repair skill so you can perform more competent first-aid on your beloved weapons and armor. The post-apocalypse just wouldn't be the same without the handful of nearly-broken weapons you have to struggle with for your first few levels, right?
If I unearth any more information, which is to say some information at all, I'll be sure to let you know.
