Personally I think that a way to give more things to do throughout the round to the players is just a focus on crafting and improvement.
Decrease the initial power level of all factions and all players, remove many powerful starting weapons and armors except the ones that are to add flair.
Remove chemical dispensers, and make chemicals able to be found in abandoned areas or hidden away in bottles. And also give the ability to extract chemicals from more items and be farmed from sources
These sources should also include mining.
Stronger weapons, armors and improvements are gathered through crafting and assembly through machinery, crafting stations, and complex materials that require base materials to be made (Some even should be made through chemical reactions)
An example:
The NCR begins with an standard issue assault rifle with a magazine that holds 20 bullets that deal low-medium damage and cannot hold better ammunition.
The available improvements to said assault rifles are scopes (Which require plastic, class and a crafting station / workshop), bigger magazines (Which require metal and plastic and the workshop), improving magazines so can hold better ammo (Same as before) and finally, better ammo (Metal being pressed inside some machine that uses molds that also have to be made).
They can perfectly play with the regular assault rifles, that shit will still kill, but they can spend time on their round improving their equipment, or working on other objectives
This way of thinking can be applied to any faction, and some factions should have a focus on it (BOS, for example) and it doesn't have to be just weapons. More gadgets and special equipment could be made through this idea of focusing crafting
Personally I think that a way to give more things to do throughout the round to the players is just a focus on crafting and improvement.
An example:
The NCR begins with an standard issue assault rifle with a magazine that holds 20 bullets that deal low-medium damage and cannot hold better ammunition.
The available improvements to said assault rifles are scopes (Which require plastic, class and a crafting station / workshop), bigger magazines (Which require metal and plastic and the workshop), improving magazines so can hold better ammo (Same as before) and finally, better ammo (Metal being pressed inside some machine that uses molds that also have to be made).
They can perfectly play with the regular assault rifles, that shit will still kill, but they can spend time on their round improving their equipment, or working on other objectives
This way of thinking can be applied to any faction, and some factions should have a focus on it (BOS, for example) and it doesn't have to be just weapons. More gadgets and special equipment could be made through this idea of focusing crafting