Van Buren combat This page describes known details about the combat in " Van Buren " , the canceled " Fallout 3 " by Black Isle Studios . They are largely based on forum discussions of fans with J . E . Sawyer . Action Points . J . E . Sawyer said : " The biggest stumbling block in Fallout TB - > RT is movement and AP . So far , the best movement translation seems to be this : high AP characters move faster since , for practical purposes , they do in both TB and RT . A 10 AP character will move 10 hexes in TB over one round while a 6 AP character will move 6 hexes in TB over one round . If that is converted into real - time , the 10 AP character will move 10 hexes in six seconds and the 6 AP character will move 6 hexes in six seconds . That ' s an analogue . However , the general tendency in RT combat systems is that movement can ' t " really " cost anything . When characters move hurky - jerky around the battlefield , stopping to pause for precious APs that they immediately burn , it becomes a little . . . bizarre . So , what then can be the cost ? The best answer I can find is : AP regeneration . A moving character never regenerates AP . He or she can run and run and run all the live - long day at whatever rate is dictated by his or her base AP , but he or she won ' t gain a single AP back until he or she stops ( or perhaps the regeneration rate still exists , but at a pitiful fraction of its total value ) . Higher AP characters would still catch up to fleeing characters in less time and either attack or easily re - accumulate APs that will eventually result in an attack into the fleeing character ' s back . A character who gleefully shoots a submachinegun burst and then runs for the hills will have to stop and wait for a full six seconds to get his or her AP pool back . If two characters with expended AP pools run the same distance , the higher base AP character will arrive at the location first and regenerate the equivalent AP for time saved by the time the slower character arrives . This is not a perfect analogue , but it ' s really not horrible , and again , it has no effect on the TB component of the game . People playing using the RT system will find that certain scenarios play out easier , and some scenarios play out with more difficulty . Ultimately , though , it still has more fidelity to TB SPECIAL than any RT D & D game has to TB D & D . Unarmed . If the advantage of firearms is range and damage at the cost of ammo conservation , and the advantage of melee is in reliability and good potential damage from powered weapons at the cost of ( usually ) range and less overall damage than firearms , then ( IMO ) , the advantage of unarmed should be in flexibility at the cost of range and damage . The highly skilled unarmed character should always have at least two moves to perform for each AP level between 2 and 10 . Because interface limitations can be overcome in a future Fallout title , the unarmed character should have access to half of these attacks with one click - hold - release . Each move should have its own benefits and drawbacks so that a healthy amount of the moves stay useful throughout the game . The moves could be split into these groups : hand attacks , hand combos , foot attacks , foot combos and hand - foot combos . For example , the character could have Jab , Cross , Uppercut , Elbow Smash , Backhand , Sucker Punch , Spearhand , and Ridgehand as standard hand attacks , each with their own AP cost , bonus or penalty to hit , DT modifier , and damage . However , the character could also gain " two - in - one " combos . For instance , Jab - Elbow . The combo would do both moves , each at a different hex . The Jab would go into the targeted hex , and the Elbow Smash would go into the hex back and to the right . The combo would cost less AP than both moves individually , but it would be at a lower chance to hit with each attack , and would incur a fatigue cost . Another combo might be Cross - Backhand - Ridgehand , hitting the first hex targeted , the hex to the right , and the hex two more to the right . Kicks could have the same general layout ( with different moves , of course ) . The kicks don ' t even have to be crazy wire - fu ' ed out . They can just be regular ol ' kicks . Snap Kick , Axe Kick , Roundhouse , Back Kick , Side Kick , Hook Kick , etc . You could have the same sorts of combos . Roundhouse - Hook , Side - Back , Snap - Side - Axe . The most complex combos would only be available when the character was fighting with no equipment in either hand , allowing hand - foot combos that could hit four , five , or even six hexes . Axe - Backhand - Round - Spear , Cross - Round - Back - Jab - Uppercut , Uppercut - Elbow - Side - Axe - Ridge - Spear . The high - skill complex combo unarmed character is like a mobile low - powered grenade , able to hit the hexes he or she wants when he or she wants from round to round . He or she never runs out of ammo , but has to accept that at high efficiency , he or she is accumulating fatigue and doing less damage than a comparable melee or firearms character . But with more than thirty moves to perform at high levels , never needing to equip or reload weapons , the unarmed character has ultimate flexibility for dealing with any close - range encounter with small to very large numbers of opponents . Aimed shots . I believe that the different called shots should be made more useful overall . Eyes is clearly " the way to go " in the first two Fallout games . It shouldn ' t just be a " well , duh " choice . Limb crippling should be more common , IMO . Blinding should also have even more dramatic penalties , but the chance to hit the eyes should be reduced even more . Critical hits . Well , overall I can say I ' d like to see fewer damage multipliers , more crippled limbs , more severe penalties to hit the eyes , and crits that ignore a portion of the armor , but never bypass it completely . Fatigue . Fatigue isn ' t something you accrue by doing mundane things . It increases as you do things like come down from chems ( and super - stims ) , perform extremely strenuous actions ( unarmed combos ) , and " bash " damage that ' s a portion of the damage absorbed by armor . It goes up , hit points go down . Fatigue is lowered by your Healing Rate every round . If your Fatigue passes your current hit points , momma said knock you out . When your Fatigue drops below your current hit points , you wake up again . "