I've decided to contribute to this thread by not contributing and instead clarifying something. I think guns should still be the most powerful weapons in the Fallout world, but they should carry with them enough problems that they are situationally superior, not inherently superior.

Ammunition, penalties to hit when used against adjacent foes, and the increased chance of problematic critical failures all contribute to this.

...A long time ago, I said that VB's combat would focus on the turn-based implementation for both balance and features. Looking for something with the smooth precision and ease of use of Diablo 2's well done fully real-time combat? Sorry, look down the street. We're not going to sacrifice the quality or features of the TB component so that VB can have the most tubular, radical RT combat ever.