There are folks who spend their first day with any new RPG solely on character creation. I know this, because I am one of them. You may be, too, and if you are and would like to get a head-start on whipping up your latest wasteland survivor, the Fallout 4 Build Planner over at RPG Gaming might be just what you're looking for.
It's an unofficial tool, based in part on the Fallout 4 leak from earlier this week, which included a pretty good look at the Perk selection process. Because of that, there are some limitations in terms of what it offers: All Perk names and descriptions have been confirmed, but only about half of the Perk level requirements are known at this point.
Even so, it's quite thorough, and its real value isn't so much in creating an initial character as it is in assisting with long-term planning. Once you've built and named your post-nuclear alter-ego, you can take it through multiple levels, choosing perks and increasing your SPECIAL attributes as you go. Some perks are dependent upon having a certain level or attribute, and will remain greyed out until you've leveled your character high enough, or go back to tweak your stats.
Progress is tracked through an Event Log, so you can see how it is that you got to where you are, and you can undo level-ups if you want to try something different. There's also an "export" option, so you can share your masterpiece with the world.
The Build Planner feels a little bit clunky in places, but it's a good way to maybe save yourself a few minutes (or a few hours) the first time you fire up Fallout 4. If nothing else, the Perk chart (which you can access in full without having to first create a character) is interesting in its own right. I'm no expert, but there looks to be quite a bit of new stuff in there.
Fallout 4 comes out November 10.
Thanks, Kotaku.
