Let's Play - Fallout 3 (modded, take 2) [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Calemyr

2010-03-30, 09:46 AM

When I play, I just download a couple mods that expand the Megaton house. I can't remember the names off hand, exactly, and my job has a filter on the internet that blocks most "game" related materials, but here's the closest I can remember them. All were on Fallout3Nexus.com:

Megaton House Expanded: Adds a new floor with several tables and a lot of empty storage. Also has a firing range on the roof with a BB gun and 50 pellets.

Megaton Haus: I know this one was spelled "Haus". Adds an extension to the second floor with a working TV (some videos added to the mod, which makes it much bigger than it needs to be), a much-needed bathroom, and an open room with 14 circles on the floor. The open room is absolutely perfect (and intended) for use with mannequin mods, allowing you to create a rogue's gallery of armors you've obtained from various sources such as power armors, vault suits, and superhero costumes. Adds a carton of cigarettes and a pre-war book. It's an Fallout Mod Manager package, however, so if you don't like FOMM you won't want this. Still, it's really nice.

I don't remember where this one was, but it was a secondary file for one of the Megaton house mods - the mod had two options for a basement: a storage room and a bar. I picked the bar option and set it as the home point for my custom companions (such as Lucy and Bittercup), so they could kick back and relax while I'm out fighting psuedo-military extremists. Adds some darts and a fair bit of booze.

Wadsworth as an Eyebot. It was either that or shoot him on sight. Can't stand the Handy's incessent thruster sounds.

There's also one called something like SD Mementos that adds little static additions to the house when you accomplish certain things, such as a fridge magnet for visiting sites like Super Duper Mart and Paradise Falls or mounted manuals for skills you've maxed out or display models of custom weapons you've obtained all the schematics for. Works nicely, doesn't perfectly mesh with the 3rd floor mod if you ever visit the UFO crash site: that unlocks a model of the UFO that hangs from the second floor ceiling, but the wire extends up into the 3rd floor if you have one.

Frankly, with the ability to customize it as much as this, I've never seen much value in any of the other house mods - they're too immersion breaking. Yes, I'm living in a four story mansion with a personal bathroom and my own museum and armory, but it still has the look and feel of the original ramshackle hut and those things on display are things I've earned, darnit!

As for characters, I was toying with doing this at one time, myself. Unfortunately, my Vid Card is going haywire and I can't even play DAO for five minutes without something glitching. Anyway, the character I was going to run with was a genius level techie (9-10 int with Computers, Lockpicking, and Repair tagged) who specialized in customizing/repairing/upgrading junk - turning his Pipboy into a PDA he uses as a journal and music system, inventing VATS by reprogramming the Pipboy's biometrics into a targeting system, rebuilding a motorcycle out of junk, and using weapon mod kits to customize his weapons into any configuration he wanted. I thought it would make an interesting story and was going to call it "Gearhead Rising", but I'll have a tough time doing anything with the idea in the near future. If you like the idea, you're free to use it.

Avilan the Grey

2010-03-30, 10:35 PM

Thanks everyone. Everything is installed now (including the house mod with the bar addon, thanks Calemyr!).

Let's see if things explode when I start! Lots of mods, some fairly big ones. Let's see if they can play well together:

MMM, Project Beauty, Fellout (with the Streetlight addons), A new Power Armor overhaul mod.

I think I got a good load order set up in FOMM.

Edit: WTF?
Fellout gives me trouble. Never done before... I can run the main file. I can run the main file plus the street light addons. I can sometimes run with the pipboy light addon. But when I try to run the DLC addons for fellout, the loader crashes (even if I have unchecked the street light ones), and then I have to uncheck not only the offending addon but all Fellout files except the main file, and start over. No other mods are loaded at this point until this is sorted out.

Avilan the Grey

2010-03-31, 02:27 AM

...Anyway.
Last chance to influence characters, otherwise I will go with:

Edited (I realized how fun it is to make people go boom by putting things in their pockets):

Female
Bad Karma (might not blow up megaton though, don't know yet).
Tagged skills: Explosives, Sneak, Speech

Female
Good Karma
Tagged skills: Small guns, Sneak, Repair

Avilan the Grey

2010-03-31, 03:21 PM

OKay, everything seems to work now.
Good thing I am not stupid and forget to actually install Point Lookout and the try to run mods for PL... No wonder it crashed.

Oh well, here we go. Hopefully first post tomorrow.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-01, 01:19 AM

Okay, here we go:

Jack
Female, tagged skills Explosives, Sneak, Speech.
Quite ruthless, violent, but with standards. Far lower standards than most, but standards nevertheless.
Highly intelligent.

Jill
Female, tagged skills Small Guns, Sneak, Repair.
A decent and pleasant person, a good shot, and enjoys tinkering with things.
Highly intelligent.

Both characters use the same face, just different hair colors.
Jack is a blonde, Jill has dark, almost black hair.

Update 1: Things getting crazy

Jack: Amata woke me up early this morning; everything had gone to hell. Dad had somehow left the vault and her fascist father was handling it badly. He even killed Jonas! I only had three friends in this cave: Amata, Jonas and Dad...

There will be hell to pay.

...

Butch wanted me to save his mother from the rad-roaches dad let in when he escaped. I did it, but not for him. At least he was actually nice afterwards, he even gave me his cool jacket.

...

The guards shoot people in cold blood! No need being ms Nice Girl anymore.

...

All the guards I met after I saw them gunning down those people have had untimely deaths. I wish I could take my time with them to get even but a bullet or three to the head will have to do.

So much for my friendship with Amata. I saved her from her own father interrogating her, I tried to talk some sense into that pig despite having Jonas killed! But when he attacked me I blew his brains out and now she won't talk to me...

I made my way to the exit, at least, with a few good guns. I hope I can find a safe place to set up shop outside before looking for dad.

--------------------

Jill: Amata woke me up! Dad has left the vault and her father is locking the place down. It turns out his thugs have already killed Jonas and now they are coming for me!

...

This is not good. A lot of roaches got in when dad escaped, but I managed to save Butch's mom from being eaten alive... He was nice to me for the first time ever afterwards, even gave me his jacket.
I am sure dad didn't know so many roaches would get in!

...

I got in a shoot-out with several of the guards. At least I know how to handle myself around guns; others are not so lucky; I saw the guards kill at least two more people. This is getting worse by the minute.

...

I feel sorry for Amata, and I did not want our friendship to end, especially not after something so horrifying as me having to kill her father! While she watched! She is in shock and blames me, although he is the one starting this and ordered Jonas' death.

At least I made it to the exit. Now I need to find where dad went, and why.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-01, 04:25 AM

Comments: Mart's Mutant Mod is apparently working. The roaches realized that my character(s) (I run the same game up until the Final Save at the Vault exit, then re-edit them according to description) were too tough to be pray. They were still scripted to attack the NPCs though. Kind of funny...

I wish someone could make a plugin for MMM that removes the hulking, badly done look for the Glowing Ones and the Ramblers. I might put that up as a request on the official board for the mod.

I am running this game at a higher setting than ever. I wonder how it will cope outside, especially with MMM (no extra spawns though!) and the Wastelander Traveller mod. Oh and the Streetlight mods too.
Wait and see, I guess, I should find out tonight.

Domochevsky

2010-04-01, 08:00 AM

So... are there any pictures or is this going to be purely text? :smallconfused:

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-01, 08:03 AM

So... are there any pictures or is this going to be purely text? :smallconfused:

Pictures will be added to future updates starting tonight or tomorrow, when I get out of 101 and have edited my one character into two.
I figured that for everyone and their grandmother the tutorial / character set up was best just glossed over quickly.

Plus, again, it saves the time of having to replay it twice (same reason both characters will have the same face, just different hair and eye colors). I will just start working from the save at the exit of vault 101.

SilverSheriff

2010-04-01, 10:04 AM

Your third character should be named 'Pail' a serious business straight and narrow neutral guy who (when he gets the chance) has the Lawbringer, Contract Killer, Night Person and Solar-Powered perks.:smallamused:

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-01, 10:09 AM

Your third character should be named 'Pail'.:smallamused:

I think I have to limit myself to two characters. Apparently, according to my wife, I should "have a life" and "pay attention to her" occasionally :smallwink::smallsmile:.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-01, 08:17 PM

Update 2: Is that the... sun?

Jack:

http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/5606/screenshot0.png (http://img368.imageshack.us/i/screenshot0.png/)

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2512/screenshot1hp.png (http://img89.imageshack.us/i/screenshot1hp.png/)

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9330/screenshot3nk.png (http://img19.imageshack.us/i/screenshot3nk.png/)

Wow... That view was... scary. Beautiful. Freaky. Outside...!
After leaving the vault I ended up on a cliff(?) side. Down to the left was a ruined town, but I could see Megaton in front of me. I also spotted some bags with stuff in them that might become useful. After I outfitted myself to my liking (God how wonderful not to have to wear the Pig's uniform anymore!) I set out for Megaton.

I joined a group of travelers; one of them tried to pick my pockets, so I killed him. Idiot.

Anyway in Megaton I was greated by the local lawman. Much more polite than the Pig. Apparently they have an unexploded bomb in the middle of town. I promised to take a look at it; there are kids living here after all.

I run into the bar owner who fell for my charm and told me where dad had went next. I was also approached by a madman that wanted to blow up the town with everyone in it. I toyed with the thought for a second but I am not crazy. I informed the sheriff about this and then things went nuts.
Burke, the crazy dude, shot Burke. I killed him, but too late. Too bad, I actually liked the sheriff.

After that mess, the local store had opened for the day...

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/8343/screenshot5v.png (http://img16.imageshack.us/i/screenshot5v.png/)

Moira, as the store owner called herself, offered me a deal: do some research for her in exchange for... stuff. Why not.

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/5264/screenshot6o.png (http://img709.imageshack.us/i/screenshot6o.png/)

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/6055/screenshot9b.png (http://img98.imageshack.us/i/screenshot9b.png/)

She also bought most of the junk I had found, and instead I bought some extras for Burke's gun. I am really more of a Big Bang person, but with a scope, an extra-large clip and the silencer from the Burke's gun the sheriff's rifle became pretty damn badass.

I did disarm the bomb and I got this house because of it. Seems worth the hassle to me.

Comments:
The weapon customizing mod I am using is not overpowered in itself, but became slightly so together with the Armor customizing one, since that one let you find the parts for free and some of them are worth several hundred caps. I sold almost everything you find at the beginning, which made it possible to buy both the scope and the extended clip.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-01, 08:28 PM

Update 3: Jill

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/7107/screenshot2oa.png (http://img28.imageshack.us/i/screenshot2oa.png/)

The outdoors is truly great. I have never even imagined something like this.

I found two bags with equipment by a rock not far from the vault. I hope no-one else needed them. I then set off to Megaton to look for dad.

The first person I met was the local Sheriff, and I liked him a lot. He seemed to really care for these people. He promised me 100 "caps" if I could disarm the live atomic bomb(!) in the middle of the square. Of course!!

The second person I ran into was the local bar owner. A complete jerk. Apparently he knows dad personally (however that is possible) but he still charged me 100 caps for the information I needed.

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/8498/screenshot12i.png (http://img231.imageshack.us/i/screenshot12i.png/)

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/9828/screenshot13e.png (http://img511.imageshack.us/i/screenshot13e.png/)

After him though I ran into a gem of a person; Moira Brown. She was writing a guide book about surviving out here, something I could tell already was really needed.

After some haggling and barting I sold off most of the equipment I found and instead bought a few other useful items. One old gun, which had seen better days (but still good enough) and some equipment for it; a scope and an extended clip.

Better still, I had found a weapon's cache outside of town, and the silencer I got from Mr Burke's gun did fit perfectly.

Oh I forgot to tell you about that. Apparently Mr Burke was trying to find someone willing to blow the town up. I informed the sheriff, but he got killed when trying to arrest Mr Burke. I avenged him and then I disarmed the bomb.
His son gave me the keys to a house in town that seemed quite nice.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-01, 09:13 PM

First decision I need input on:

I will do the SuperDuper Mart with both characters (because I love that, it's fun!)

Then I am going to Arefu, mainly because I want to try out the Lucy West companion mod.

After that, however:

Jack
1. Continue working on the guide?
2. Tag along with a caravan and see what happens?
3. Continue main quest?
4. Do something else?

Jill
1. Continue working on the guide?
2. Tag along with a caravan and see what happens?
3. Continue main quest?
4. Do something else?

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-02, 03:23 AM

Update 4: Jack

After a good night's sleep I left Megaton for the Superduper Mart. Half way there I ran into a scavenger who happily parted with some ammo in exchange for nuca-cola caps.

Just when I arrived at the parking lot an old bus exploded! The whole place was a mess. I caught the tail end of a four way fight between travellers, a scavenger, raiders and a floating ball-shaped robot. Only one person, a raider, was alive when I reached them and taking a cue from the bus, I just blew up the car he was standing by.

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/7267/screenshot16q.png (http://img231.imageshack.us/i/screenshot16q.png/)

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/7172/screenshot17z.png (http://img63.imageshack.us/i/screenshot17z.png/)

Inside the place was several more raiders, but they seemed dumber than Butch. They were easy to pick off one at a time.

I found quite a lot of stuff, including the meds and food Moira was looking for.

Comments:
The clipping when wearing large hats have always annoyed me, but that is the curse of cRPGs. Imagine doing all the work needed for no clipping at all, no matter what equipment you choose to put on your character...

Lord Loss

2010-04-02, 05:40 AM

I would make Jill go to Arefu and Jack to the minefield, but that's me.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-02, 10:00 PM

Update 5: Jill:

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/8569/screenshot19j.png (http://img214.imageshack.us/i/screenshot19j.png/)

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4946/screenshot20b.png (http://img213.imageshack.us/i/screenshot20b.png/)

Helping Moira with the book had me investigating the "Superduper Mart" close to Megaton for food and medicine. Half way there I ran into this lunatic with a sniper rifle who started stalking me immediately. I managed to take him out, but it was not over there. After fixing myself I rounded the corner att the 'Mart and ran into some mercenaries doubling as hitmen. It appears someone actually took out a contract on me because I am too nice.
The mercs were really tough, they gave me quite a head injury! Thank God for stimpacks.

Just as I was preparing to enter a group of travellers asked me to be an extra escort to Megaton. Since the pay was good and we were really close, I accepted. It took less than an hour to go back and forth, so it was definitely worth it.

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/5665/screenshot21cn.png (http://img202.imageshack.us/i/screenshot21cn.png/)

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/3950/screenshot22b.png (http://img231.imageshack.us/i/screenshot22b.png/)

The inside of the place was quiet and somehow peaceful despite the gruesome decorations that the "Raiders" had put up. The raiders themselves were nothing of the sort but luckily they seemed to have attention-spans like a 3 year old. My new scoped rifle handled all of them easily.

"Gotcha!"

I quickly gathered all the thing Moria wanted and headed back to Megaton.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-03, 05:04 AM

Intermission:

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/6125/screenshot25b.png (http://img197.imageshack.us/i/screenshot25b.png/)

Are you thirsty after shooting raiders all day and almost getting your head blown off by mercenaries?

8 of 10 vault rejects recommend Nuka Cola!

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-04, 05:22 AM

Update 6: Jack:

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/636/screenshot26ng.png (http://img18.imageshack.us/i/screenshot26ng.png/)

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/5092/screenshot29.png (http://img338.imageshack.us/i/screenshot29.png/)

I decided on a whim to follow one of the caravans from Megaton to see where I would end up. As soon as we got to Springvale this guy that traveled with another group started bugging me for no reason. Finally I got so fed up that I blew his head off.

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/8105/screenshot31m.png (http://img189.imageshack.us/i/screenshot31m.png/)

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/911/screenshot32v.png (http://img62.imageshack.us/i/screenshot32v.png/)

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/4108/screenshot33n.png (http://img22.imageshack.us/i/screenshot33n.png/)

Following the caravan paid off. I spotted a fortified compound after a while and ran off to investigate: Turns out the "Outcasts" have a fort they call "Independence". It seemed really well defended, but they offered me a deal. Bring in high-tech weaponry and armor and get ammo or grenades in return. Sounds good to me!

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3982/screenshot35w.png (http://img62.imageshack.us/i/screenshot35w.png/)

I found another interesting place, the old Nuka Cola plant. I will have to get back there at some point. Oh and a small town called "Andale" too. Seems nice, I would like to return there.

Oh it is a good thing that the BoS are so well protected. They do all kind of stupid crap like blowing up a car they are standing on...

The rest of the way was boring. When we got to a place called "Rivet City" I left the caravan to explore on my own. I got a job from an old guy running the local museum to recover the Declaration of Independence. I should be going that way anyway soon, so why not.

I also got a job from a Dr. Zimmer to recover an "android".

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/7807/screenshot36h.png (http://img32.imageshack.us/i/screenshot36h.png/)

http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/2716/screenshot38t.png (http://img638.imageshack.us/i/screenshot38t.png/)

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/1606/screenshot39k.png (http://img24.imageshack.us/i/screenshot39k.png/)

Leaving Rivet City I came upon a huge nest of raiders. And then this interesting place... The guy calls himself "Dukov" and the girls seems less than thrilled. One of them begged me to take her to Rivet City, so I did.

I will have to kill Dukov soon, he is a bastard. He did have some interesting gear though; I helped myself to quite a lot of his stuff.

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/846/screenshot40f.png (http://img502.imageshack.us/i/screenshot40f.png/)

...After this I decided to not go look for dad just yet. I decided to go look for Tenpenny and settle that whole "blowing up my new home town" deal.
First stop Andale and then on from there.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-04, 02:27 PM

Update 7: Jack (cont.)

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/5931/screenshot42r.png (http://img39.imageshack.us/i/screenshot42r.png/)

This is what happens when you are too crazy. These people were way too freaky to be allowed to live. And after I killed them I found out they were cannibals to boot.

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/884/screenshot45n.png (http://img526.imageshack.us/i/screenshot45n.png/)

After slowly making my way towards Tenpenny, I come across a huge Raider nest. I was low on ammo so I decided not to clean it out. Instead I turned my attention towards the local wildlife, and after blowing up a couple of dogs I came by the old robot company.
I ran into a trader selling robots, and I tried to buy a peculiar Mr Gutsy. I found out the robot "didn't like me", so no deal.

After that I finally reached the tower and saw a ghoul being denied entrance.

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/4970/screenshot47t.png (http://img189.imageshack.us/i/screenshot47t.png/)

I had to buy myself entrance to the place, and when inside almost everyone were jerks to me. The local tailor insulted me and my style of clothing and that really pissed me off.

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/2712/screenshot48x.png (http://img691.imageshack.us/i/screenshot48x.png/)

"Chief Gustavo", head of what goes for security in the tower, hired me to kill the ghoul at the gates and his friends.
We'll see how things turn out...

I got down into the subway system tracking the ghouls, and shooting some ferals.
The ghoul leader said he had a plan to kill everyone in the tower. I accepted the deal. The stuck-up bastards will pay for insulting me.

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/483/screenshot53m.png (http://img195.imageshack.us/i/screenshot53m.png/)

After making sure no kids lived in the tower I let the ferals and the head ghoul (Roy) into the tower. He gave me a mask to wear that made the ferals believe I was a ghoul. Handy, but ugly.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-04, 02:36 PM

Update 8: Jack (cont.):

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/8771/screenshot54.png (http://img169.imageshack.us/i/screenshot54.png/)

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/448/screenshot55z.png (http://img229.imageshack.us/i/screenshot55z.png/)

Making my way north-northwest towards Megaton again, I stumble into a nightmare. A huge Raider base with a tame Super-Monster! I have no idea what it was, but it took me 2 hours and all my ammo to kill it. Thank God it was too large to climb up after me.

Luckily the loot I got from killing the monster gave me enough grenades and ammo back to survive cleaning the base out.

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/6320/screenshot59.png (http://img519.imageshack.us/i/screenshot59.png/)

In the last room I found a prisoner that was willing to cooperate with me to gain her freedom. At first I though about keeping her as a slave, but I sensed we are two of a kind. I thought she and I will have a lot of fun together!

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/9098/screenshot63i.png (http://img260.imageshack.us/i/screenshot63i.png/)

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/7396/screenshot64c.png (http://img402.imageshack.us/i/screenshot64c.png/)

Finally back home I unload some loot and Angel played dress-up. Next stop: Arefu. Or somewhere else.

Starbuck_II

2010-04-04, 02:42 PM

Is that a mod?
I don't remember anyone willing to join you there.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-04, 02:48 PM

Is that a mod?
I don't remember anyone willing to join you there.

Yes. It's a mod that turns the imprisoned raider woman in the brothel into a companion named Angel. You can recruit her either by simply telling her that you take over her ownership, or to free her and promise to keep her safe.

She has a very foul mouth (She is a raider, after all). Tagged skills are Small Guns, Melee and Unarmed. Not the best setup but I wanted to try a lot of new stuff this playthrough.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-05, 12:17 PM

Comments:

If by chance someone re-reads the passage where Jack is picking up Angel, you can see I changed the story. I decided, quite frankly, that I need to Evil it up a bit, so she is turning slaver. At least for a while.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-05, 03:38 PM

Comments:

I changed power armor mod from the simple "Improved Power Armor" to "Can Opener (http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=11137)".
Since neither one of my characters or companions use power armor yet this works, since it is a very nice re-balance mod:

1) It ups stats for all power armors
2) It makes power armor non lootable. This means the armors you find are extremely precious.
3) A new perk, Can Opener exists which, if you take, allows you to loot "spare parts" from fallen enemies so you can repair the power armor you are wearing.
4) A separate patch makes the Winterized power armor in Anchorage switch places with itself making the non-invulnerable not available outside the simulation. This is necessary since the in-simulation one does not get the changed stats.

This will hopefully give you the feeling of "Yes I am a walking fortress" but without being able to reverse-pickpocket every NPC into an Enclave soldier.

And you can't sell too many armors to Fort Independence now...

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-06, 02:02 AM

Request for involvement:

Jill is doing a long run now through Rivet City (to follow the Companion: Lucy West quest line, which also gave me an in-game reason to actually go there and get the INT bobble head) - Big Town - Germantown - Minefield.

I will post some updates on that tonight or tomorrow morning.

However, after this the plan is for both characters to do the "Help the Outcast" quest (to get the goodies there, and the Power Armor training)

After that I need help:

Jack:
Paradise falls?
The Pitt?
Survival guide?
Main quest?
Just randomly explore for a while?
Other?

Jill:
The Pitt?
Tenpenny?
Survival guide?
Main Quest?
Randomly Explore?
Other?

Calemyr

2010-04-06, 09:54 AM

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-06, 03:39 PM

I would have expected Jack to do whatever amuses her most or whatever looks most profitable. I'm still unclear where she sits on the self-centered prick/sauron-deville-lovechild spectrum of evil. Seems to be a selfish woman who has firmly held morals, just not many of them.

My guess: Paradise Falls, if only as an excuse to get far enough north to justify finding Werner's Pitt message.

Jill, however, I would have thought would focus on the main quest first and foremost. Helping people she comes across that are in dire need or pursuing avenues that provide her much-needed equipment in the fight to come, but always with the pursuit of dear ol' dad as the guiding star.

My guess: Either straight to the main quest or continuing the survival guide and possibly getting involved in the Pitt after reaching Minefield.

By the way, for future games: look into the Medical Genius mod. It swaps the Medicine and Intelligence bobbleheads so you don't "need" to justify a mad dash for rivet in order to get it.

Jack: You are basically right. She is selfish, and that treat got boosted through the roof when she felt Amata betrayed her despite her doing the best (but ended up having to kill Amata's father). She also plays up the fact that she actually tried to talk to him ("the Pig") despite him ordering the death of one of her very few friends: Jonas. She is also very anarchistic.

One of the very fundamental rules she have is "no hurt kids".

Jill: Basically a very good, if trigger happy, person. She is basically split between finding dad, and helping people she comes across and have a hard time deciding. She genuinely cares for people.

About the Medical Genius one: Sounds good. I have, basically by accident (IRL) managed to justify finding the INT bobble head with both characters this time... Jack because she just tagged along the caravan, and Jill because she was helping Lucy West.

Edit: Proper updates might not come for a few days; we have a guest in the house and find it rude to play computer games instead of entertaining.

Starbuck_II

2010-04-06, 04:02 PM

After that I need help:

Jack:
Paradise falls?
The Pitt?
Survival guide?
Main quest?
Just randomly explore for a while?
Other?

Paradise Falls then Survival guide some more.

Jill:
The Pitt?
Tenpenny?
Survival guide?
Main Quest?
Randomly Explore?
Other?

Ooh, go take on Super heroes (Antagonizer/Mech dude)

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-06, 10:27 PM

Update 9: Jill:

http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/1640/screenshot65c.png (http://img638.imageshack.us/i/screenshot65c.png/)

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/8046/screenshot66.png (http://img208.imageshack.us/i/screenshot66.png/)

I found an old abandoned town this morning on the way to Arefu. At least I thought it was, until I realized a small portion of it was walled off and guarded. Whoever had done it had not done a very good job, however and it looked somewhat desperate.

It turned out this place was called "Big Town" and for some reason was inhabited only by teenagers. Weird.

Apparently the town had been under constant attack for a long time; first from slavers and now from "Super Mutants", whatever they were. A number of kids had been abducted by these creatures and taken north, to Germantown. I promised to save them if I could, but for some reason I get a feeling that I don't have to hurry; they will be there when I arrive.

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/8266/screenshot68u.png (http://img69.imageshack.us/i/screenshot68u.png/)

I found an unexpected partner in Big Town; a girl calling herself "Bittercup". She seemed eager to join me to Arefu (and then off to Germantown) so I let her come along.

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7208/screenshot69.png (http://img263.imageshack.us/i/screenshot69.png/)

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/5669/screenshot70.png (http://img231.imageshack.us/i/screenshot70.png/)

...It seems I did make a good decision letting Bittercup come along. She was definitely pulling her own weight already and then some. And she could handle a gun like nobody's business.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-06, 10:55 PM

Update 10: Jill (cont.)

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/6199/screenshot71.png (http://img210.imageshack.us/i/screenshot71.png/)

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/6127/screenshot72w.png (http://img52.imageshack.us/i/screenshot72w.png/)

Arriving in Arefu was exciting; we almost got blown to pieces by a trigger-happy old man.

The reason why Lucy had not heard from her family was because they had been killed! A group of thugs had attacked the village and somehow snuck past the guards, killing her family and taken off with her younger brother. I promised to help out and got a lead north of the river.

When I was done investigating things in Arefu it was past dark, and only fools go out in the Wasteland after sunset, so I had to wait until morning.

On the north side of the river, going through some tunnels, I found an old subway station and "The Family", an odd group of remarkably civilized cannibals. They called themselves "Vampires"(!?) and claimed to help other cannibals by teaching them "the way".
To me they were still freaks, but nice freaks. Their leader, Vance, claimed Lucy's brother was the one killing his own parents and that they had rescued him from himself, so to speak.

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/1452/screenshot77z.png (http://img132.imageshack.us/i/screenshot77z.png/)

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/6148/screenshot79.png (http://img7.imageshack.us/i/screenshot79.png/)

We managed to sort things out between Arefu and the Family in quite a neat way. The town donated blood, and the Family send armed guards to protect them. I think it worked out quite well.

Before Germantown, we headed back home for a while. I still had the odd feeling that the kids would be okay until I got there.

Lucy joins our little group after a good talk and sharing a bottle of wine. She wants to go to "Rivet City" first though to get her weapon fixed. After some talking we all agreed to do that and then head off to Germantown.

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/3096/screenshot81.png (http://img255.imageshack.us/i/screenshot81.png/)

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/202/screenshot82.png (http://img97.imageshack.us/i/screenshot82.png/)

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/1636/screenshot83.png (http://img519.imageshack.us/i/screenshot83.png/)

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/2248/screenshot84.png (http://img444.imageshack.us/i/screenshot84.png/)

On the way to Rivet City we ran into all kinds of odd folks. Gallo the Ghoulified Clown was less than friendly. I regret having to kill him but he gave me no choice.

The little kid claims his family was attacked by monsters in a place called "Grayditch". I will look into that too; at least he had a safe place to hide.

We also stumbled upon an old man that claimed he had seen living trees up north. That did sound too good to be true, and he seemed really out of it, but I will investigate at some point.

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/6730/screenshot86j.png (http://img121.imageshack.us/i/screenshot86j.png/)

We also ended up escorting a scantly clad young woman through hostile territory; and other travellers tagged along too.

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/1521/screenshot87.png (http://img21.imageshack.us/i/screenshot87.png/)

...Rivet City. It was apparently an old Aircraft Carrier. I got paid for helping the people reach it and we went on trying to find whoever Lucy needed to see.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/2884/screenshot90a.png (http://img94.imageshack.us/i/screenshot90a.png/)

After a little searching, and stumbling over an old man paying us for finding and bringing back the Declaration of Independence from the National Archives (I will do that when heading off to search for dad) as well as finding a neat Bobblehead, we upgrade Lucy's laser rifle and head back home and then off to get the kids out of Germantown.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-07, 02:56 AM

Comments:

The game makes logical progress a little difficult since you get interrupted with new quests quite a lot. Especially for Jill, who really gives a damn and yet had to leave the kid alone with the "monsters" for a while.

I think this is the logical continuation for now:

Jack will be going south again, following the beacon from the outcasts purely out of curiousity, and after that do the Arefu quest (and stumble across Big Town and Paradise Falls in the process). After that... Probably the main quest up to the point where dad is found safe and sound, so she knows she won't have to worry about him anymore.
Then... I don't know, probably a lot of random exploring / survival guide.

Jill will go save the kids in Germantown, then go down and investigate the monsters in Grayditch, and after that do the main quest to the same point as Jack, so that she knows dad is safe. Then she will concentrate on helping other people and try to make a difference.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-09, 05:55 PM

Update 11: Jill (cont.)

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/6453/screenshot92p.png (http://img641.imageshack.us/i/screenshot92p.png/)

Close to Germantown we spot something interesting, a huge statue of a boy to the west. I decided to check that out later.

This part of the wasteland was crawling with mutants. Not surprising since it was mutants that took the kids, but I prefer my wasteland mutant-less.

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/1884/screenshot93g.png (http://img411.imageshack.us/i/screenshot93g.png/)

http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/4909/screenshot95g.png (http://img535.imageshack.us/i/screenshot95g.png/)

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/2108/screenshot96.png (http://img169.imageshack.us/i/screenshot96.png/)

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/1860/screenshot97.png (http://img175.imageshack.us/i/screenshot97.png/)

The old police station looked worse for wear, and I could smell the mutants from far away. Luckily for us they seem dumb and deaf. We had to move around to the back of the building to be able to get inside.

Inside we immediately ran across these two geniuses, who spent their time talking loudly and staring out the window (and yet somehow never saw us coming). Thanks to my 19th century rifle(!) they were easily taken care of.

The rest of the building was marginally harder to fight our way through; there was no real resistance.

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/9197/screenshot99o.png (http://img683.imageshack.us/i/screenshot99o.png/)

Conveniently the last mutant we killed, right outside the old jail cells, had a key for the cells.
We found the young doctor alive and more or less well. At first we thought she was the only survivor but she said her friend, "Shorty" might be alive downstairs.

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/9233/screenshot100t.png (http://img209.imageshack.us/i/screenshot100t.png/)

After sniping our way to some restrooms in the basement, we found the missing boy.
I quickly handed them leftover weapons and headed back to Big Town.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-09, 06:13 PM

Update 12: Jill (cont.)

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/9018/screenshot102.png (http://img254.imageshack.us/i/screenshot102.png/)

Back in Big Town it was very obvious that something else needed to be done to stop the raids from the Super Mutants. I volunteered to teach the kids how to properly use their guns and we quickly dispatched the raiding party that had followed us from Germantown.

http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/481/screenshot104p.png (http://img638.imageshack.us/i/screenshot104p.png/)

After helping out Big Town, at least for now, we rushed home to get a good night's sleep before seeing if we could help that kid with the "monster" problem.
It turns out he was not too far from the truth: Giant Firebreathing Ants!! Luckily we could take most of them out in the open from far away.

No surprise: The boy's father was killed by ants several days ago. At least he provided us with a clue where too look for well, another clue, so that we could try to put a stop to the creatures.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/5252/screenshot106bz.png (http://img199.imageshack.us/i/screenshot106bz.png/)

http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/5043/screenshot107.png (http://img541.imageshack.us/i/screenshot107.png/)

The information lead us underground again; yet another subway station. I found a side door that looked promising; the main hall was full with ant soldiers.
The Washington subway system had very extensive service tunnels. We still had to fight our way past several ants, but it was still an easier route.

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/4671/screenshot108o.png (http://img19.imageshack.us/i/screenshot108o.png/)

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/6052/screenshot109o.png (http://img46.imageshack.us/i/screenshot109o.png/)

We took the wrong turn and ended up at another subway station in the middle of a battle between mutants and the Brotherhood of Steel.
It turned out that one of their adepts was on the wrong side of the thin red line, and they needed help getting him out from a building full of mutants. Since I was already on the scene, I agreed to help.

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/2980/screenshot110y.png (http://img9.imageshack.us/i/screenshot110y.png/)

(It seems Paladin Hoss had a talent for posing like a man's man. Not really my thing, but nice).

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/8049/screenshot111u.png (http://img88.imageshack.us/i/screenshot111u.png/)

We reached the building on the other side of the square next to the subway station. We had to get in quickly, drag the guy out dead or alive, and then hurry and get back to the bug hunt. I could not risk the kid's life after seeing what the ants did to his father.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-11, 11:10 AM

Update 13: Jill (cont.)

http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/1264/screenshot112.png (http://img71.imageshack.us/i/screenshot112.png/)

The mutants in the building were easy to deal with. I don't think they expected an assault at all.
The Adept was younger than I thought; he seemed very green even compared to me. I mean he grew up in the wasteland, he should have been better at this than I was.

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/9748/screenshot113.png (http://img63.imageshack.us/i/screenshot113.png/)

We quickly returned the lost soul to his superior officer, and went back underground.

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/952/screenshot114k.png (http://img696.imageshack.us/i/screenshot114k.png/)

...This did not look good. The ants were easy to deal with, but this entrance to their lair looked... bad. We had come across a crazy scientist (the guy that used to work in the shed up in Greyditch) who told us he could fix it all if we just killed the five extra-strong ants that protected the queen.

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/5095/screenshot115n.png (http://img718.imageshack.us/i/screenshot115n.png/)

The guardians was less dangerous than I feared, but the queen... I am glad I had the option not to fight her.

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/8303/screenshot117s.png (http://img263.imageshack.us/i/screenshot117s.png/)

The scientist, Dr Lesko, kept his word and gave me something extra: he spliced my DNA with that of the fire ants. It was supposed to give me resistance to fire, and better eye sight for some reason.
We also managed to give the kid a new home with his aunt in Rivet City. As far as places to grow up in this world Rivet City was about as good as it got, I guess.

Raveypoos

2010-04-11, 11:33 AM

Very nice. I really love it.
Can't wait till you post the next chapter :smallbiggrin:

Just a question: Which mods do you use?

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-11, 10:38 PM

Very nice. I really love it.
Can't wait till you post the next chapter :smallbiggrin:

Just a question: Which mods do you use?

Thanks.
I'll give you a long list soon :smallsmile:

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-12, 01:55 AM

Comments: Modlist

...Let's see if I can remember all of them. All of them are from Fallout Nexus.
And no, this is NOT my load order!

In general, HQ textures for everything I could find
Slower leveling (increased the XP needed to reach the next level with 75%)
Mart's Mutant Mod (with no extra spawns, no odd creatures, no dead ghouls raising)
Weapon Modification Mod (let's you put mod kids (silencers, scopes etc) on most weapons)
Tailor Maid (similar to the weapon mod above but for clothes and armor)
Can Opener (An overhaul of the Power Armors to be more "realistic")
Abrihivated Stats (or whatever it is called)
Fellout (Better looking outdoors for vanilla game and all expansionns except the Pitt)
Stronger Fort Independence (can't remember the name) that makes it really look like the HQ for the Outcasts
Project Beauty (not the HD version because I don't like the custom hairs)
Cantenbury Commons Guards - Makes CC extremely well guarded (it needs it, with all those über monster spawns in the town)
Street Lights (Adds actual light effects to the lights. Looks MUCH better)
Street Lights - Wasteland (same as above but also for the light sources out in the wasteland)
Wasteland Travellers (creates groups of armed (poorly) travellers that move back and forth between the larger settlements. I use the crowded towns version.
BoS caravan guards (Makes the caravans Essential plus gives them each four BoS for protection (also essential): One sniper, one Minigun, and two small gun ones)

These are the big ones. I also use a number of smaller mods:

One small mod that creates a (non essential) patrool of BoS that walks back and forth between the library and the Citadel
Reaver Fix (a mod that makes the Ghoul Reavers into more of a glass cannon, cuts down it's HP to 1/3rd
No Overlord bonus (removes the "false difficulty" created by the strange extra damage bonus Overlords have to damage)
Point Lookout fix (not sure of the name) (does the same with Tribals and Swampfolk)

I have a number of companion mods:

Buttercup Companion
Lucy West companion
Angel Companion (called something else on Nexus) (Replaces the locked-up prostitute in Evergreen Mills with a companion)
Companions Waitrelax (makes vanilla companions relax and walk around a little when told to wait)

Edit: forgot one.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-12, 01:45 PM

Update 14: Jack

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/2498/screenshot120.png (http://img691.imageshack.us/i/screenshot120.png/)

Me and Angel stumbled over a house outside Megaton we had missed before. We met an ex-employee of Moriarty. She apparently owed him money, and I talked her out of it to give to him "in exchange of not ratting her out". The fact that I didn't intend ever talking to him again was not something she needed to know...

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/1746/screenshot122pn.png (http://img20.imageshack.us/i/screenshot122pn.png/)

Back in Megaton I hired Jericho to join us. He apparently used to be a Raider, so I hoped he would fit right in.

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/3933/screenshot123m.png (http://img682.imageshack.us/i/screenshot123m.png/)

We decided to follow the distress call from the Outcasts down south. It was a fairly uneventful trip except the big fight between Travellers and Raiders in a parking lot... By the time we arrived all that was left was burning car parts and dead bodies. Lot's of loot, so good for us.

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/5858/screenshot127v.png (http://img36.imageshack.us/i/screenshot127v.png/)

Right across the street from the parking lot was a service entrance to a subway station. By going that way we soon ended up on the other side, and in the middle of a very uneven battle between the Outcasts and a group of Super Mutants.

...When the fight was over, I approached the team leader and got this response... His tune changed when he saw my Pip-Boy though and soon Angel and I was underground.

Jericho was not let inside, for some reason.

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/1204/screenshot128l.png (http://img69.imageshack.us/i/screenshot128l.png/)

...Apparently what neeed to be done was to interface with a computer simulation in order to eventually open a vault. I was told to slip into an ugly white suit.

For some reason they made me take all my other gear off, but one of the guys insisted on a picture of me before I removed it.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-12, 02:09 PM

Update 14: Jack (cont.)

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/8347/screenshot130y.png (http://img51.imageshack.us/i/screenshot130y.png/)

Immediately after entering the simulation I was stunned. It was very impressive, and very beautiful at that.

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/7449/screenshot133h.png (http://img189.imageshack.us/i/screenshot133h.png/)

The guy was annoying though.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/9080/screenshot131g.png (http://img29.imageshack.us/i/screenshot131g.png/)

...Killing worked just as usual, except no loot. The game cheated me by making the dead bodies disappear. It really pissed me off.

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/2452/screenshot137iojk.png (http://img651.imageshack.us/i/screenshot137iojk.png/)

I had to stop several times and just stare. I had never seen living trees before and this simulation was so well made... I almost forgot why I was there a few times.

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/2959/screenshot141.png (http://img710.imageshack.us/i/screenshot141.png/)

...And actual airplanes, too. Wow.

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/5413/screenshot142.png (http://img693.imageshack.us/i/screenshot142.png/)

The hardest enemies in the "game" was some sort of Chinese assassins that could turn invisible.

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/2213/screenshot149.png (http://img717.imageshack.us/i/screenshot149.png/)

After finishing the simulation we got access to the vault. A LOT of good stuff in there. I gave Angel the old Power Armor, but I think I will let Jericho have it later. I got one of those Chinese Assassin suits. And a gauss rifle...!

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-14, 10:47 PM

Update 15: Jack (cont.)

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/4746/screenshot151p.png (http://img8.imageshack.us/i/screenshot151p.png/)

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/2448/screenshot152n.png (http://img693.imageshack.us/i/screenshot152n.png/)

Suddenly there was gunfire! Betrayal!
A fierce fire-fight broke out right outside the vault. It wasn't until afterwards I understood what had happened; the second-in-command had decided that I did not deserve all the good loot I had earned (risked my life for, even!). But now he was dead... Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy...

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/2929/screenshot153.png (http://img707.imageshack.us/i/screenshot153.png/)

...I REALLY liked this gun. I am not much for guns, normally, but this one was incredible!

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/6200/screenshot157t.png (http://img42.imageshack.us/i/screenshot157t.png/)

After the fight Angel switched back to her normal gear. I kept the stealth suit on, at least for a while.

Now it was time to redistribute loot, and then go save dad's ass.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-18, 11:55 AM

Updates:

I have finally started playing again.
The whole "have a life" thing steals a lot of time from gaming. Plus, moving 900Gb of data from two HDDs to a 2TB NAS takes time.

I expect to be able to make an update tomorrow night.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-19, 12:54 AM

Quick updates and comments:

Update 16: Jack:

After our little adventure with the Outcasts we had our hands full of useful loot. Jericho got the Power Armor; it went nicely with the minigun. I changed back to my normal gear; I liked the look of it. I would of course keep the Stealth Armor, I would probably find it useful at some point.

Next on the agenda is to get back home, and then find our way to dad. I had been dragging my feet too long and I needed to know what happened to him.

Update 17: Jill:

After finishing up the Big Town and Arefu quests, it was time to find dad. We didn't get far from Megaton before we ran into another Enclave soldier; this one patrolling along a piece of road to the north-west of the Super-Duper Mart. The three of us took care of him without much trouble, but it was a little unnerving that the Enclave showed so much interest in the wasteland. I didn't trust them as far as I could throw them, but at least we got a nice laser rifle out of it.

Comments:

We are still setting up the NAS. Beautiful piece of equipment, but between file-copying and setting up the built in print-server and maybe also the media streaming function I didn't have time playing this weekend. I will at least post a few pictures to go with update 16 and 17 tonight.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-20, 05:12 AM

Update 18: Jill

After killing the Enclave soldier, we snuck over the bridge over what is left of the Potomac, and started easing south. Instead of cutting directly to the subway exit that we were told to head for we took a longer way around ending up in the middle of a firefight between travelers and raiders. Before we could come to the aid of the travelers the fight was over, with only two survivors. All raiders had been killed, so we looted their bodies and headed down towards the river again.

As soon as we got close, several explosions were heard. Another firefight! More heavily armed travelers this time (they were escorted by two mercenaries) but that didn't help when 3 cars exploded at once. When we started to look around the debris, we got ambushed by three more raiders.
When we started chasing them suddenly two heavily armed Super Mutants appeared across the water and started shooting at us. I had to use 6 blood packs to get myself in fighting shape after that encounter.

Anyway, after all that had been sorted out we headed to the subway to get deep into the main city of Washington.

Notes:

No pictures yet. I installed a new hi-res texture pack that turned out to be too much for my poor laptop. The game crashed every five minutes.
I think that is sorted out now, so hopefully everything will be back to normal soon.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-20, 02:20 PM

Here are the pictures for Jill's post above.

Update 19: Jill

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/5810/screenshot160v.png (http://img41.imageshack.us/i/screenshot160v.png/)

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/240/screenshot161.png (http://img28.imageshack.us/i/screenshot161.png/)

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/2979/screenshot162.png (http://img52.imageshack.us/i/screenshot162.png/)

http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/2192/screenshot163v.png (http://img686.imageshack.us/i/screenshot163v.png/)

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-24, 08:09 AM

Comments:

I am not dead. Huge update coming tomorrow night.

Starbuck_II

2010-04-24, 08:54 AM

Good to know. That was some stuff I've never seen before (that simulation).

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-25, 04:00 PM

Update 20: Jill

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/5355/screenshot164.png (http://img219.imageshack.us/i/screenshot164.png/)

The Brotherhood of Steel marked their paths, which made it easier for us. The subways were still a maze, but their marks made it easier.

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/350/screenshot165.png (http://img693.imageshack.us/i/screenshot165.png/)

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/24/screenshot167.png (http://img256.imageshack.us/i/screenshot167.png/)
...Ghouls. They seemed to thrive down in the darkness. At least they were easy to kill.

My skill at picking locks came in handy quite often.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3613/screenshot168w.png (http://img94.imageshack.us/i/screenshot168w.png/)

Another mark on the wall.

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/4585/screenshot170.png (http://img339.imageshack.us/i/screenshot170.png/)

We surfaced right in a fight between BoS and Mutants.
Sentinel Lyons was hostile at first, but seemed more to be about business than being an ass for the sake of it. It turned out we had surfaced just a block from the GnR radio station, so we followed Lyons and her squad as they tried to push back the mutants from the GnR plaza.

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/1704/screenshot171w.png (http://img697.imageshack.us/i/screenshot171w.png/)

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/2748/screenshot172x.png (http://img718.imageshack.us/i/screenshot172x.png/)

...Holy /(¤&%(¤#)!!!
I thought this went too easy. I managed to get my hand on a Fatman nuke launcher just as the huge monster punched his way through the old cars.

It was less effective than I had hoped, but it worked good enough. It still took several shots to bring the beast down.

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/9153/screenshot175.png (http://img526.imageshack.us/i/screenshot175.png/)

...And now I had to locate Three-Dog and find out what he knew about dad.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-25, 04:12 PM

Update 21: Jill

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/1345/screenshot176l.png (http://img194.imageshack.us/i/screenshot176l.png/)

So this was Three-Dog? He annoyed me beyond belief within the first three seconds of meeting him, but I had to play his game. He wanted me to repair broadcasting system on top of the Washington monument before he told me anything, so I had to get into the absolute center of the city. Not something I really wanted to do.

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/5484/screenshot177.png (http://img402.imageshack.us/i/screenshot177.png/)

http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/9844/screenshot178o.png (http://img638.imageshack.us/i/screenshot178o.png/)

On the back of the GNR there was a ditch leading into an old mostly collapsed car tunnel. Following the BoS markings we soon emerged at the Mall.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/7223/screenshot181.png (http://img338.imageshack.us/i/screenshot181.png/)

It was past sundown now, and I had so far avoided being outside in the dark. I desperately tried to stay as far as I could from the mutant-infested center of the Mall... Luckily it turned out the Museum of Technology was just a few feet away. We had to get in there to get another dish for the radio station.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/4303/screenshot182.png (http://img208.imageshack.us/i/screenshot182.png/)

Somebody had been tempering with the computers in the museum. I hoped it would lead to something interesting...

The opposition in there was not much to talk about. A few weak mutants, that was all.

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/4368/screenshot183.png (http://img143.imageshack.us/i/screenshot183.png/)

The display of a Vault was almost freaking me out though. It both felt extremely disturbing and disturbingly familiar at once.

http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/9814/screenshot185u.png (http://img686.imageshack.us/i/screenshot185u.png/)

A few more Super Mutants tried to get us as we took a shortcut through the old planetarium to get out quicker after stealing the dish from the old moon lander.

Getting outside again we headed off to the monument without incident. Replacing the dish was easier than I thought.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-25, 04:21 PM

Update 22: Jill

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/5851/screenshot187j.png (http://img707.imageshack.us/i/screenshot187j.png/)

On the way out of the monument we spotted the Museum of History. Somehow drawn towards it we entered.

Taking the first door to the left might have been a mistake, but I somehow felt like I needed to go that way. Many feral ghouls in there, but also some interesting finds.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/6573/screenshot189v.png (http://img94.imageshack.us/i/screenshot189v.png/)

Emerging back from the ghoul-infested part of the museum dressed in Lincoln's hat! I also found his gun! That was what was pulling me into there to begin with, I could feel it! It felt like it belonged in my hands...

For now, though, I kept it tucked away. If I could only find a workbench, I needed to put a scope on it!

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/7515/screenshot190.png (http://img227.imageshack.us/i/screenshot190.png/)

Speaking of the devil. Beyond the main entrance doors to the "underworld", there was in fact a place called "Underworld"; a whole ghoul city! Non-ferals, of course. And a workbench! And a store!

After some bartering we were off GNR again.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-25, 04:36 PM

Update 23: Jill

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/9056/screenshot191.png (http://img301.imageshack.us/i/screenshot191.png/)

Three-Dog sent me running back to Rivet City. Oh well. Let's see what this "Dr Li" has to say about dad.

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/6820/screenshot192s.png (http://img697.imageshack.us/i/screenshot192s.png/)

Wow. Not only did she have a lot to say about dad, she had a lot to say about me! Apparently she assisted with my birth...!

Anyway, dad apparently just visited here a few days ago and tried to talk her into joining him in a project of some sort. She refused, but he left and walked to their old lab close by in the Jefferson Memorial.

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/2586/screenshot193.png (http://img442.imageshack.us/i/screenshot193.png/)

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/6718/screenshot194q.png (http://img11.imageshack.us/i/screenshot194q.png/)

This was not good news! The outside of the place was crawling with mutants. I hope dad got away from there!

http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/4586/screenshot195.png (http://img714.imageshack.us/i/screenshot195.png/)

Dad was gone, but he had apparently left in a hurry, because there was some audio logs left behind. They did point towards my next destination though.

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/2342/screenshot196o.png (http://img341.imageshack.us/i/screenshot196o.png/)

Leaving the memorial we decided to take a shortcut and swim across the Potomac. We ended up right in front of the BoS HQ - The Citadel, and continued in on the road that went westward south of it.

Suddenly we ran into an old friend, unfortunately too late. What was Paladin Hoss doing there? Last time I saw him we helped him rescuing his Initiate!

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/5261/screenshot198a.png (http://img697.imageshack.us/i/screenshot198a.png/)

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/2507/screenshot199u.png (http://img717.imageshack.us/i/screenshot199u.png/)

Further westward we ran into another group of what I first thought was BoS. They were "Outcasts", a splinter group from the BoS. Their fort was very well guarded but luckily they were if not friendly, then at least non-hostile (and arrogant).

They did need help with collecting high tech though and after a few insults (from them, I was not stupid enough to trade insults with them) I signed up on the job to turn in any high tech I found to them.

...I could not stay long. I needed to push further west.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-26, 01:06 AM

Update 24: Jill

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/8938/screenshot200.png

Continuing to push westwards we didn't find much. A few molerats, some dogs, a robot or two. Then an old car repair shop emerged at the horizon, right in our path.

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/2708/screenshot201j.png

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/483/screenshot202.png

This was the place dad had spoken of in his recordings. Vault 112 was hidden in the basement. Made me wonder why our vault was not hidden as well as this one.

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/1696/screenshot203.png

http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/7318/screenshot204ae.png

This place was completely different from our vault. It seemed the people were not as much living in it as being forever asleep, being cared for by a bunch of robo-brains. And they didn't seem that clever; they did not realize I shouldn't be there, in fact they mistook me for a resident.

I found an empty pod and connected myself to the main computer. I trusted Lucy or Bittercup to get me out if something went wrong.

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/1937/screenshot205w.png

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/1875/screenshot206w.png

This was creepy in so many ways! Not only was it all in black and white (and nobody else seemed to notice!) but there was... happy background music playing. It was as if this computer simulation was trying to force happiness on everyone.

...Then there was the creepy, creepy girl. Her eyes were... evil.
She wanted me to "play a game" that involved hurting the other people in the simulation. I did not refuse, I just walked away.

Exploring a bit I found one house that stood out; it was "abandoned", yet nobody made an effort to restore it or anything.

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/6853/screenshot207d.png

Inside I was looking around and realized the oddly placed items on the ground floor were giving out notes when touched. I played around with them for a few hours until suddenly... A hidden wall, or rather a hidden opening, appeared and showed a control panel.

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http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/2487/screenshot209.png

After a long time of investigating and trying to figure out what to do I realized the only way out was to activate the failsafe. It turned out that it literary simulated a Chinese invasion, and the troops killed everyone except me (for some reason), the evil girl, and her dog.

The girl turned out to be the crazy German scientist that dad was looking for! Even worse, it turned out the dog was dad!
Luckily, by triggering the failsafe, we could leave and abandon the crazy guy to a fate worse than death. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/8900/screenshot210a.png

Dad and I talked for a long time. He wanted me to go back to Rivet City with him and try to talk some sense into Dr Li, but I told him that for now I would go on my own. I had things to see, to do. At least now I knew he was safe.

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/2716/screenshot211q.png

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Just outside the building to the north was an old military camp from before the war, still guarded by a robot. I managed to take it by surprise since it was attacked by mad brahmin. There wasn't too much loot though.

...Now off to adventure! With dad safe I can take my time. I think I should go back south towards the high tower at the horizon; according to my Pip-boy it is the place where Mr Burke came from...

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-27, 12:44 AM

Comments:

I might have to give up Jack. Just like Jill her save got corrupted so the game crashes every five minutes or so, but with Jill I could backtrack. With Jack it's the oldest save I got that is corrupted.
We'll see, if I fix this then there should be a small update tomorrow. Otherwise I go back to Jill.

Avilan the Grey

2010-04-27, 10:45 PM

Comments:

It appears Jack is saved. Apparently there is a fix for corrupted saves: Blow yourself up! When the game autoloads the latest save it corrects it automatically somehow.

Update 25: Jack

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/9383/screenshot213.png

We left Megaton early in the morning to find dad. The trace pointed across the river.

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http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/6535/screenshot215v.png

On the road past the Super Duper Mart, we came across a lone Enclave soldier. Just as we were about to attack him, he in turn attacked a lonely scavenger. In the commotion he failed to spot us, and it was easy to blow him upp.

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/7539/screenshot216.png

Just across the river we found an exit to the subway system. The Brotherhood Of Steel had marked it, so it was easy to find our way.

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2923/screenshot218.png

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/1677/screenshot220g.png

...After a long trek in the underworld we surfaced about a block away from the GNR Plaza. We ended up right in a major battle between mutants and the Brotherhood. The welcome could have been nicer but I was not in a position to argue. The BoS allowed me to tag along as they tried to liberate the GNR Plaza.

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/9139/screenshot221.png

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/234/screenshot222y.png

It was a good idea to go with the BoS. This turned out to be a hell of a fight. Several mutants and some kind of enormous monster, even though it was not as big as the one I fought at the Evergreen Mills.

...Next: To get inside and see if I can find dad.

Arcanoi

2010-04-28, 03:04 PM

Keep up the good work, sir. Quite entertaining.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-02, 01:31 PM

Keep up the good work, sir. Quite entertaining.

Thank you! :smallsmile:

Update 25: Jack
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/6257/screenshot223y.png

I found "Three Dog". The voice of GNR, and a jerk. He forced me to get into the center of DC to run an errand for him in order to get info about dad. I was two seconds from blowing his head off.

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/6599/screenshot225.png

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/6793/screenshot227.png

Going through the car tunnel behind GNR we ran into a huge green monster. and gang of ferals. We barely survived, especially after Jericho blew up half of the cars, and a bus.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1847/screenshot231.png

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/3149/screenshot232.png

After following the painted signs to the Mall Outpost, we ended up right in the middle of it. We barely got our noses above ground before the mutants descended on us!

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/8389/screenshot233.png

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/5240/screenshot234.png

After a huge fight we could enter the Museum of Technology. The opposition inside was a joke compared to what was outside.

Somebody had hidden a message in the computer system. As far as I could tell it was about a hidden stash quite close to Vault 101.

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/2372/screenshot235.png

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/4940/screenshot236.png

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/2413/screenshot237.png

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/3821/screenshot238.png

We quickly found the satellite dish and managed to sneak all the way to the Washington Monument and fixed the radio transmitter. Three-dog better spill about dad or I would kill him.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-02, 02:07 PM

Update 26: Jack

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/6388/screenshot239.png

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/2488/screenshot240.png

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/8744/screenshot241.png

From the monument we spotted the Museum of History; worth checking out! It turns out a whole society of Ghouls lived in it. They even had a decent weapon dealer!

I also met a guy named Crowley who offered me money for killing some people. I took the job, but I didn't think I had to kill all of them.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/3780/screenshot243.png

After leaving "Underworld" as the ghouls called their city, I made my way to the National Archives; after all they were just around the corner.
For some reason the bus exploded just as I rounded the corner. Someone must have set it on fire just before I got there, but I couldn't see who or what...

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/579/screenshot244.png

Inside we met Sydney, a young girl with a mean trigger finger. It turns out the old guy at Rivet City had hired her too to find the Declaration, but she was stuck in the lobby because of the constant attack of mutants. We decided to join up and kick some mutant butt!

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/2663/screenshot246.png

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/8541/screenshot247.png

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Finding out way underground we also found a huge number of psychotic robots. Luckily they didn't really stand a chance against the four of us.

The "Robotbrains" were almost entertaining. Slow, and with an obvious target on top of that tin can... "Boom! Headshot! Again!"

The last robot was the best. A protectron class robot, wearing a wig and actually believing he was some old guy from long ago. I managed to talk him into shutting himself off, and we got away with the Declaration.

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/9677/screenshot251.png

Three Dog happily told me... that he didn't know where dad was. He DID know where dad was heading last time he saw him. Rivet City.
This worked out quite nicely since I had to return there to collect my reward anyway.

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/3715/screenshot253.png

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/4715/screenshot254.png

Back in Rivet City we made our way to the Museum and collected the reward. Sydney took her leave after that which was kind of sad, I really liked her.

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/5063/screenshot255.png

Dr Li was full of surprises! The biggest one being that she was a friend of dad's and knew me from when I was a little kid!
She said dad had left for the Jefferson Memorial.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/621/screenshot258.png

After cleaning out the few mutants that resided inside the monument, we found some audio logs. It turned out dad had left; looking for Vault 112.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-02, 02:22 PM

Update 27: Jack

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/6210/screenshot260p.png

We went through Megaton and then aimed for that hidden weapon stash which was more or less on the way to Vault 112. We also came across a bridge full of raiders...

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/2889/screenshot261.png

We found the stash on a dead body; probably the guy "Prime". Appart from a lot of caps, it also contained a really good Chinese assault rifle.

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/1433/screenshot262s.png

We stumbled over a group of Talon mercs, but these seemed to have lost each other. They were very far apart and it was easy to dispose of them one at a time.

http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/6238/screenshot263q.png

We cleared out the old store and I found a workbench. I quickly optimized my 10mm handgun and put a few goodies on the new Chinese assault rifle too.

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/6248/screenshot265.png

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/8695/screenshot266.png

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2117/screenshot267.png

On our way from the old store we ran into a group of travelers. One of them tried to pick my pockets and I repaid him in kind. Unfortunately his companions decided that I was the one doing something wrong and attacked us.

Things got a little... messy.

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/192/screenshot270.png

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/9622/screenshot271.png

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/4204/screenshot272w.png

...Finally we found Vault 112, it looked undisturbed!
I really hoped there was no weird stuff going on in there.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-06, 10:35 PM

Update 28: Jack

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/8841/screenshot273.png

This was the cleanest Vault I had ever seen. Of course it was also only the second Vault. More to the point it was the creepiest. Filled with deranged robots that seemed to have no clue that I shouldn't be there, or that I should be dead, if I am actually should be there...

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/8960/screenshot274.png

...This place reminded me very much of the military simulation I helped the Outcasts with. Slightly less advanced pods, but that was about it. I had to go in to find dad. Angel wished me luck; Jericho just muttered something and shook his head.

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/2963/screenshot275.png

The simulation itself was definitely a simpler version of the Anchorage one; it was all in black and white and much smaller. And it was creepy as hell, especially the little girl that seemed to control it all.

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/474/screenshot276m.png

In order for "Betty" to answer my questions I had to "play a game". I didn't think it could hurt to do what she / he said, after all it was just a simulation.
First thing Betty wanted me to do was to make a young boy cry. That was a hard one, I don't like being rough on kids.

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/9800/screenshot279.png

The second "game" was to beak up a marriage. That was easy enough; it actually seems the husband WAS cheating on his wife.

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/2456/screenshot280m.png

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/5572/screenshot282.png

The next thing I was told to do was to "Kill a woman in a creative way". No problem, it was all a simulation anyway. Just when I had figured out how to do it, a neighbor came running and wanted to tell me that all this was a dream. Duh. I dismissed her and continued with my task.

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/839/screenshot284.png

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/2939/screenshot285.png

I rigged the oven to explode and then asked Mabel to bake me something... Quick and easy.
I didn't feel all that guilty about it, "Betty" could revive her later.

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/6540/screenshot289.png

http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/8843/screenshot294.png

My last task was to dress up as the "Pint Sized Slasher" and kill everyone with a knife. I wouldn't have done it if that kid was still around but he seemed to have disappeared.

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/4875/screenshot296.png

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/3276/screenshot298.png

I finally got "Betty"'s permission to leave, and it turned out that "she" had trapped my dad in the form of a dog.
I might have to come back later and punish "her" for this.

Dad and I talked for a bit. He was heading back to Rivet City. I felt I had more to do before joining him, but at least now he was safe.

I told him I was going north; I was going to follow that emergency signal coming from way up north.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-09, 05:04 PM

Update 29: Jill

http://img532.imageshack.us/img532/7325/screenshot302.png

We made our way slowly towards the tower, and not the direct route either. After a while we came across a slaver; it seems he was the only survivor after he and his friends had fought a Protectron. I put a bullet in his brain long before he saw me; slavers, as far as I was concerned, was fair game at any time.

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/7295/screenshot303.png

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/3680/screenshot304.png

Just to the east of the spot where I killed the slaver was a small, doomed settlement. It might seem harsh, but two houses and just a flimsy fence could not keep the people there alive for long. I was actually surprised to find two people there at all.

The settlement only consisted of two people; one idiot, and one complete loon. The loon, who's name was Sierra, was apparently totally obsessed with Nuka Cola. She had built a small museum...
To cut a long story short: we agreed to visit the Nuka Cola plant in exchange for some plans for improvised grenades. I decided that I would probably do that, at some point.

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/3668/screenshot308.png

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/4834/screenshot309q.png

After that slightly surreal experience, we turned south again, only to come across a monster. Luckily it was distracted, hunting molerats, and we managed to kill it before it came too close to us.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-09, 10:29 PM

Update 30: Jill

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/4518/screenshot312.png

Turning southeast, I missed a step and fell down a cliff. Stupid! I landed more or less on top of a radscorpion.

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/3726/screenshot314.png

We zig-zagged slowly southwards for a while. I spotted another monster; this one was not fully grown. Luckily for us it seemed to have been separated from it's mother.

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2386/screenshot315.png

After a while we ended up atop of a cliff face, looking down at an old train yard. We managed to get down safely and realized this place had been populated by feral ghouls, but someone had killed them off. We caught one straggler, hiding behind a train cart, but it was not really a threat and died instantly.

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5575/screenshot317.png

We decided to turn west again towards the old shop. When we got there several slavers were fighting some mole rats and flies. Just like the other slaver these did never hear us coming...
Well that was a lie, the last one definitely heard us when I blew up a car killing his friend. Not that it did him any good.

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5645/screenshot319.png

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Inside "Lucky's" as the shop apparently had been called back before the bombs fell, were quite a lot of useful stuff. Unfortunately it was all claimed by a scavenger, but at least he was willing to barter some. I also found a pair of really cool shades. This turned out to be quite a lucky day.

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/1831/screenshot321l.png

When we left Lucky's, we were ambushed by the Talon company. Again. Things got a little messy, but none of us got seriously hurt.

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As we finally reached the tower, we ran across a ghoul in a very foul mood. After listening to him scream at the tower guards and then leave, I walked over to the intercom and managed to bribe us in. It was a beautiful place.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-09, 10:53 PM

Updatge 31: Jill

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/8114/screenshot327.png

The chief of security hired us on the spot for "getting rid of" the ghoul we saw outside and his friends.
Not sure if I was going to go through with it, but I at least went to investigate. It turned out that the only way to get to them was through that train yard I had passed a few hours earlier.

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After fighting off a small number of ferals, we were hailed by a ghoul guarding a subway station. He warned us, but didn't try to physically stop us, so we did proceed.

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We took a wrong turn in a tunnel and ended up with a lot more ferals on our hands, including one I had never seen before. Stealth paid off though; we took it out before it had seen us.

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Turning back and through a door, we came across the ghoul we were looking for. His name was Roy, and he almost talked me out of killing him and his friends, until he started telling me his "great plan" of having everyone in the tower killed by ferals.

I shot him in the back. I wasn't proud of it, but I did think killing them was the lesser evil.

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/7670/screenshot332zi.png

Back in the tower chief Gustavo was really pleased. After chatting and trading for a while we went up "to see Tenpenny".

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Up on the top floor I quickly noticed the security guard was alone with not way of contacting the rest of the tower. When he denied me the chance of talking to Tenpenny, I disposed of him.

...Lucy got a nifty new set of armor...

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I don't know how Tenpenny did it, but he had some actual, living flowers in his appartment!!!

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Tenpenny got his for trying to blow up Megaton. I talked to him for a while and when he turned his back to me I bashed his brain in with my bat. I didn't think he was worth to waste ammo on.

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...I don't know what Gustavo and the gang had been smoking, but the fact was that they were very bad at their job. Nobody realized that they should check up on Tenpenny even when I walked right by them wearing his clothes!

Oh well, not my problem.

Next: Off to help the Outcasts!

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-10, 11:55 AM

Update 32: Jill

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...Yet another Enclave scout. We just moved around him; no need wasting ammo if not needed.

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Moving in a large circle to avoid the Enclave soldier made us stumble over several raiders. Luckily for us we were on a ledge and a lot of cars below. Instead of fighting them I just blew up the closest car which in turn caused almost all cars on the street to go out with a bang.

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While we were looting the toasted raiders, a wastelander ran past, followed by hunters. Hunters! Cannibal scum! I quickly killed them all.

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After taking a shortcut through a subway station, we ended up in a huge fight between mutants and Outcasts. We managed to thoroughly defeat the mutants and then I tried to talk to the Outcasts. Apparently they had no idea that I could hear their broadcasts. They quickly adapted though and I was sent down under ground to help with something.

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...It seemed some people were itching to have me killed... We would find out more about that later.

ImmortalLiam

2010-05-13, 02:24 AM

I just started reading this... Its interesting, keep it up :smallsmile:

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-13, 03:59 AM

I just started reading this... Its interesting, keep it up :smallsmile:

Thank you, I will. Unfortunately I am being told by my wife to "have a life" :smallbiggrin:, so updates will only be once or twice a week.

ImmortalLiam

2010-05-13, 01:08 PM

Thank you, I will. Unfortunately I am being told by my wife to "have a life" :smallbiggrin:, so updates will only be once or twice a week.

Lol, its cool and perfectly understandable :smallsmile:

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-16, 04:00 PM

Updates will be later than usual; I spent the weekend playing Call of Cthulhu (tabletop).

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-19, 03:44 PM

Update will be later this week; I am still not dead, but as I said I was "table-toping" all weekend...

ImmortalLiam

2010-05-21, 03:48 PM

WOOT! My best friend loves being a storyteller for that. I cant play it though... I tend to break his game...

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-23, 02:34 PM

WOOT! My best friend loves being a storyteller for that. I cant play it though... I tend to break his game...

Hehe!

Update 33: Jill

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After navigating past more raiders and a short subway tunnel, we ended up in the middle of a battle between Outcasts and Mutants. The mutants had tried to cut off a group from the outpost, but got hammered really good. The Outcasts really handled themselves...

Anyway, we were soon guided into the outpost. The Outcasts were as charming as ever...

They wanted me to use my Pip-boy to open a sealed walk-in vault. The problem was that in order to do that I had to go through a computer simulation that was realistic enough to kill me, if I screwed up.

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Reluctantly I accepted. I got a special suit to wear for the occasion...

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The "game" was very difficult but I must say it was very realistic! Anyway, It took several hours to complete. When I was done, the Outcast leader wanted to talk to me again.

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Defender Sibley, the second in Command picked the moment when I opened the vault to commit treason. Luckily he had not counted on the reinforcement: Me and Buttercup. I got my hands on a Chinese Stealth Suit and a Gauss rifle that I knew from the simulation punched HARD.

It really did. I managed to hit Sibley twice in a row: first shot got him flying, and I hit him again in the air! He was dead when he hit the ground!

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/3410/screenshot373.png

Collecting a lot of loot, I thanked the Protector, and left the outpost to head for the other emergency radio signal, the one from way up north. and take the way through home. I had a lot of stuff that needed to be either sold or redistributed.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-23, 04:01 PM

Update 34: Jill

The walk back to Megaton was fairly uneventful. Only minor threats, and far between at that.

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After some shopping and a good night's sleep, we headed towards the hidden stash we found out about in the Museum of Technology. We took the way around Vault 101 since I knew about the raiders on the overpass. They were easily disposed of with Lincoln's Repeater. Putting a scope on that gun was a stroke of genius.

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Just after the overpass we came across a barn where escaped slaves fought a group of ghoul wastelanders for what turned out to be an old fridge full of clean water. I tried to assist the slaves, but they were all dead after the shooting was over and all I could do was to claim the water for myself.

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After claiming the stash (an excellent Chinese assault rifle and a lot of caps) I decided to switch permanently to the stealth suit. It was possible to wear the suit with some extra equipment.

It was a good decision; I went inside the old tech store and found a small raider nest.

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The raiders had a workbench in the place and I quickly modified the assault rifle to my liking.

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Turning north again we had a number of encounters (no, the female slaver did not survive our meeting). A large number of raiders were living in a power relay station that we passed, and a Deathclaw were patroling a riverbank. Me and the girls handled these threats easily and tried to push north as quickly as possible.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-23, 10:17 PM

Update 35: Jill

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Just north of the raider stronghold was an even larger Mutant stronghold. We managed to get in unseen and saved the captive there.

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Continuing north past an old Sat station. It was full of raiders but I felt we needed to press on, so all we did was sniping the raiders standing on the outside of the towers.

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When we reached the source of the radio signal we saw a group of oddly-dressed raiders attacking a lone man. Before we could help him, he had killed every raider. This guy definitely could handle himself.

He introduced himself as Wehrner, a refugee from "The Pitt". He had come to the wasteland to look for help against the oppressive regime in the Pitt.
I was amazed that there was a place worse than the wasteland and agreed to help him. He directed me to a slaver camp to the west to get a disguise for the job and after clearing the camp out and freeing the slaves, they gave me one.

After that Wehrner said to meet him in the train tunnel that started inside the slaver camp and to leave my companions there. I did, although I felt a little uneasy about going alone. It turned out the way of transport was a hand-powered trolley...

Comments:
Sorry, I screwed up with the image size. For the rest of Jill's quest to the Pitt I will use spoiler tags since the images are quite large.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-23, 10:55 PM

Update 36: Jill

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At the other end of the long tunnel were the entrance to the Pitt. The place was full of raiders but they seemed less aggressive and more organized than in the wasteland.

After trying to talk us through the gates (and failing) Wehrner and I had to shoot us through anyway. He said he was too well known and could not try to sneak back in, so I had to go alone.

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After the raiders there was a long bridge set up as one long trap. I managed to navigate my way on the bridge mainly by blowing up the cars on it from a distance, and cleaning out the mines and animals on it that way.
At the far end of the bridge was a sniper's nest however but the sniper was not that good; I got her before she saw me.

After I got the sniper I changed to the slave outfit and walked up to the front door... The raiders there were confused but "happy" to see me. They confiscated all my gear but I will get it back later; probably over their dead bodies.

http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/4413/screenshot402.png

Wehrner had told me to look for a woman named Midea, and that proved easier than I thought. I had barely walked inside the camp before she found me and directed me back to her quarters. I was told I had to go look for steel ingots in the old abandoned part of the mill; apparently a job for people the raiders wanted dead. The place was full of "Troggs"; the local disease did not cause people to become ghouls, but become like animals, running on all fours and hunting humans. Lovely.
Anyway, I was told to get at least ten of them.

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The man in charge of the "ingot runs" was Everett. At first I thought he was a complete bastard, but it turned out that for a slave driver he was quite reasonable; in fact he went out of his way to compensate me fore the deadly work. For every ten ingots I found he gave me really good stuff and after finding 100 ingots he even managed to find me an old, and worn, but still fully functional power armor!

He also managed to find me a hell of a gun; a precision assault rifle with scope and silencer.

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When I came back to Medea, she told me that I was just in time. Apparently the leader of the Pitt were going to announce a tournament of sort and if I won it, I would win my freedom. Lucky I got all that gear...

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I headed back into the mill. The woman in charge, Spook, was not exactly friendly and didn't think much of my chances but I ignored her and continued down the stairs.
Faydra, the woman who actually set up the matches, were at least a tad bit nicer. And halfway to become a Trogg, it seemed.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/7647/screenshot414c.png

The fighting was easier than I thought; of course my fantastic new gun and my armor really helped... I only had to go three matches before I was "free".

It turned out the leader of the Pitt, Ashur, was impressed by my fighting and wanted to see me... I guess I was heading uptown!

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-25, 01:43 AM

Question:

Pictures: In spoiler blocks or not?

Comments:

Boy, Jill is overloaded right now. She carries so much gear... It is very annoying not being able to run, but it gave an odd sense of satisfaction (feeling like a Determinator) when walking slowly through the Mill blowing people's heads off. I think both my companions are waiting inside the train tunnel so I can give them a ton of stuff (both of them are mods, so there is a good chance. I did not get the "......... is went back to ............" message when I left for the Pitt).

I apologize in advance for making you all go through the Pitt twice; but it is the logical path (I will take Jack through the Pitt as soon as Jill is done).

After that though there will be a split. Since both girls now have saved their father, and have a lot of time on their hands, they are free to roam. My plan is for Jill to explore the north and east side of the map in general, and have Jack do either downtown, or the south-west corner.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-26, 03:51 PM

Update 37: Jill

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/7747/screenshot416.png

After getting out of the hole, I got "Invited" to Ashur, the guy in charge. Half way there I found some nifty new clothes...

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/7319/screenshot417.png

The raiders in charge was a mixed bunch. Most were still rude, but some seemed genuinely impressed by my performance so far.
...For a brief second I was tempted to color my hair like this woman; it was actually not bad looking.

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Ashur lived in an old sky-scraper he called "Haven". It sure looked impressive from the outside... The man himself turned out to be an ex BoS, who deserted to try to "fix" the mess that was the Pitt. He explained that Wehrner was far less noble than he claimed, and urged me to reconsider working for him.
As a sign of trust he directed me towards the room with the cure in it...

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/2402/screenshot423.png

It turned out that the "cure" was Ashur's own daughter. Suddenly the whole issue was turned on it's head; I could not let anyone kidnap an infant! I signed on with Ashur to take Wehrner out. I didn't hesitate at all.

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The slaves had started their rebellion when I headed back; it was with a heavy heart I killed them as they tried to attack me.

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I found Midea just as she was going to bed. She was not happy, of course and tried to stop me from finding Wernher. I bluffed, claiming I would kill every single slave if she didn't tell me, and she gave in.

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/8152/screenshot431.png

"Boom! Headshot!" - Even without the stealth suit, Wernher never saw me coming. He had a hideout in the Trogg-infested parts, but that did not help in the end.
Now all I had to do was to get back to Asher, and then get back "home" to the Wasteland. I had mode loot than I would ever need, but hey, what is life without some treasure-hunting...

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-30, 08:55 AM

Update 38: Jill

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After talking to Ashur a final time I headed out. I came across the same ******* on the way out as on the way in, and I couldn't help myself. Five shots later three Pitt Raiders were lying on the ground. I looted them and walked back towards the train tunnel.

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Back home I put some trophies up and redecorated with my newfound wealth. Bittercup asked to stay at my house and I said yet; for now it will only be me and Lucy out in the wastes. For now I think I will relax for a bit and then go north-east to see what is there.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-30, 09:52 AM

Update 39: Jack

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/6048/screenshot442.png

Zig-zagging north I apparently left shelter too early in the morning. I came across a group of really aggressive and weird ghouls. It was past 5am and the "nightlife" was still out.

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We took the wrong bridge north, and ended up in a long u-turn over to the west side of the map.

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Turning back north-east we came across Mirelurk-infected waters; a huge battle between raiders and 'lurks was going on, and we happily took pot-shots on everyone involved!

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/2818/screenshot448.png

Just north of the battle a group of slavers were resting after fighting off a group of dogs. I took my time sneaking up on them and managed to take them by surprise: It is extremely satisfying to stab a person not expecting it in the back...!

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We found a train tunnel with a large group of slavers. We disposed of them quickly but rather painfully, and freed the slaves after looting.

After the train tunnel we turned east and soon found the source of the signal, apparently an escaped slave and-or rebel leader from "the Pitt", called Wernher. He needed help to get a cure from the scumbag running the place and distribute it to the people. I felt somewhat sympathetic to the cause, knowing full well what scumbags can do when they are in power!

It turned out the entrance to the Pitt was in the train tunnel I had just cleared out. I grabbed a slave outfit and we went.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/3861/screenshot454k.png

The first thing that happened when we got to the end of the tunnel was that we were attacked by a group of Raiders that seemed more organized than usual; it turned out that the "supervisors" in the Pitt were actually Raiders employed by the big guy.

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/9564/screenshot455f.png

I was completely on my own from this battle on, it seemed. The idea was that I was to impersonate a slave, and "look out for the sniper on the bridge". I did NOT like the sound of that.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-30, 10:58 AM

Update 40: Jack

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I got a perfect headshot on the sniper on the bridge. I was fully aware that my skill with guns or energy weapons wasn't the best, but I got lucky...!

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I got stopped by the gates and stripped of all my gear. I felt very naked.

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Inside I was quickly contacted by a woman named Midea. She told me that before I could proceed, I had to do a shift in the steel mill collecting old steel ingots from before the war. The problem was that the place was filled with weird freaks who would eat you alive if they caught you. Troggs.

I got a tip from Midea about a guy called Marco who could give me a weapon.

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/7339/screenshot466a.png

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...It was a good thing that I got that weapon. The Troggs were worse than ghouls; and much faster, too. The guy in charge of the ingot-searching was actually quite ok for a slavedriver; he snuck me some really good gear in exchange for every ten ingots I brought in. After getting a hundred of the darn things I was very well equipped indeed.

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Midea was pleased that I survived. So was I. A new opening made it possible to move forward more quickly than she had planned; Ashur, the big guy, had planned a tournament where the winner got his or her freedom back. I entered the competition, of course; I felt sorry for whoever was going to go against me.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-30, 12:17 PM

Update 41: Jack

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After slaughering my way through the tournament, I won my freedom and an "audience" with Ashur in "Uptown". Midea told me that Ashur guards the cure personally, so I went.

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Ashur was a very smart guy. He immediately let me know that he knew I was not a regular worker. I managed to talk around the fact that I had met Wernher, and he told me he wanted to "introduce me" to the cure. He sent me off to meet his wife as the alarm went off and he disappeared; apparently Midea, or someone close to her, had started the uprising early.

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/4566/screenshot477n.png

...It seems Midea forgot to mention that the cure was actually a little girl!!! I went into a rage when I realized that what she wanted to do was to kidnap the girl...! I stormed out of the building to help Ashur with the uprising.

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Chopping my way through the rioting slaves I remembered that Ashur had told me where that Midea probably knew where Wernher was hiding. I decided to pay her a visit after this bloodbath was over.

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Medea was less than pleased. I managed to force her to tell on Wernher without having to kill her; I figured Ashur might want that pleasure himself later.

It turned out Wernher was hiding out among the Troggs. I headed back, although I did not like the idea of going back there.

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I soon found his front door and watchdog. She died screaming when a grenade landed at her feet.

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Wernher was harder to kill, but after two grenades and some dodging, he died too. I headed back to Ashur, and then headed out of the Pitt.

Triaxx

2010-05-30, 07:29 PM

See, not even the evilest slave trading monsters agree with Werner.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-30, 10:11 PM

See, not even the evilest slave trading monsters agree with Werner.

One of Jack's hangups are kids anyway; she had no problem letting loose the ghouls in Tenpenny Tower after making sure no kids lived there.

Edit:

Comment:
I realized playing this weekend that Jill will reach higher levels quicker than Jack, simply because she is a stealth sniper build. She gains XP quicker since there is a fairly huge XP bonus for one-shot kills while not seen. For the same kill that Jack gains 1-10 XP, Jill often gets 10-35 XP. Right now the difference is about 1 level (mid lvl 8 vs mid level 9 but the gap is widening slowly).

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-31, 03:34 AM

Comment:

...Wish me luck! Tonight or tomorrow night I will upgrade my OS from Vista 32bit to 7 64bit. This means I can't do a regular upgrade but have to format the HDD...

Unless I do something really stupid I should be able to continue this after that with all mods etc intact. But I have been known to forget things until "oops HDD already formatted!"... :smalleek::smallbiggrin:

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-31, 12:25 PM

Update 42: Jack

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Hooking back up with Angel (Jericho decided to ditch me and go back to Megaton) we sorted out our loot. I couldn't resist testing out the power armor. Heading east, towards the town with the big ice-cream holding statue, we again came across some raiders. ...Grenades work lovely with cars!

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It turns out the place was a slaver base; I got an offer I couldn't refuse... Of slave hunting to the east! Luckily the closest "VIP" victim was in a place that I had considered visiting anyway; Minefield.

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I wasn't too happy with the feeling of the Power Armor, and switched back to my favorite attire...

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On the way to Minefield we ran across Germantown. By luck, another prioritized "VIP" (and her friend) was held prisoner by the muties in the old police HQ. I opted to save them instead though. She wanted back to "Big Town", so we turned 90 degrees south instead.

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We ran into a HUGE group of well-armed muties on the way south; luckily Red and her friend could handle themselves.

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It turned out Bigtown was quite close to Megaton. Anyway, I really liked Red's bandanna and I felt like trying out the Mezzer. It worked like a charm and she happily gave me her headgear! I did not turn her into a slave though, instead I helped them putting out a minefield around their town.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-31, 12:48 PM

Update 43: Jack

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Angel and I turned back towards Minefield, coming across even more muties on the way... I told Angel to wait when we came close; the guy we were going to catch was an expert sniper and the town was heavily mined. I did not want Angel to be hurt because of me.

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Switching to the Mezzer I snuck closer and closer to the ruined tower the guy was using as a HQ. I managed to get all up in his face before he saw me, I even impressed myself! I shot him and lo! and behold! The Mezzer worked perfectly, and I sent him off running towards Paradise Falls.

I got back down and got to the center of the playground so I could tell Moira I had been there.

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Heading back to Paradise Falls we spotted a huge building just to the north; it turned out to be filled with ghouls. The angry kind.

After we fought our way through the horde, it turned out the place was kind of empty... Anyway on the way out we were stopped by three morons playing Holier-than-thou. They berated me for a lot of crap and then I killed them for being "Too dumb to deserve to be alive". It felt really good.

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...The guys at Paradise Falls were really grateful. Good for them.
I got 500 caps and a new collar to use.

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We decided to go south-west and do the mail delivery to Arefu that Lucy asked about several weeks ago.

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Of course nothing is ever easy. Arefu was harrased by a gang of freaks, and they had killed Lucy's family. I told the citizens that I would go noth and track the freaks down.

Avilan the Grey

2010-05-31, 01:14 PM

Update 44: Jack

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We found our way across the Potomac and found a subway station and an old grocery shop. The shop really didn't contain anything interesting, but when we exited the shop four more of the trench-coat wearing morons tried to take me down. Didn't work out too well for them...!

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Inside the subway station two ghouls were inventing a "super drug" called Ultra Jet. They knew where the freaks lived, so we continued further under ground.

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We found a lot of radioactive waste and two mirelurks. The radioactive goo was more dangerous than the 'lurks... But the fireworks was pretty!

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We soon came across the Family, as the freaks called themselves. Turns out they were "vampires". Cannibals pretending to be "more" than just freaks. Anyway, their leader was quite reasonable. It turned out Lucy's youngest brother was still alive and had been "adopted" by the freaks. It also turned out that he had gone nuts and killed and eaten his parents.

I managed to talk to Lucy's brother and got him to move back home. Vance and I worked out a deal where the freaks would protect Arefu in exchange for blood.

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Back in Megaton I delivered the landmine Moira wanted from Minefield, did her ridiculous "let's get radiated" thing and then I got an idea: I had a slave collar, and the mercenary guarding her shop was very rude to me.
...Five minutes later I had stolen everything the guy owned and sent him away running towards Paradise Falls and his new life as someone's property. Don't insult me; you will regret it!

I went back to my house and decided to relax for a bit...

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-01, 01:01 AM

Comment:

Okay, tonight's the night. I just got the text message from the post office saying the package with Windows 7 has arrived. I think I have backed everything up; but if not... Please don't kill me? :smalleek::smallbiggrin:

I think after this playthrough I will start a character with a less optimal configuration: a Melee / Energy Weapon combo. Good but skirting neutral (very VERY cynical and practical, I think he or she will do slavery, for example).

Can someone help me with this character?

Male or Female?
Race?
Name?
Preferred weapon type? (meaning Prioritize Melee over Energy Weapons or the other way around).
Third Tagged Skill?

Also, I am planning to add one more mod to this, even if I do not loose these characters: Some sort of Stimpack mod to make it slightly less simple to survive. Any ideas?

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-02, 06:58 AM

Comment:

...Well, the windows installation went easy enough. Now for reinstalling this, tonight...!

Triaxx

2010-06-02, 10:39 AM

Hmm... how about:

Male, any, any, Melee: Big Guns, Medicine

Energy Weapons are imbalanced, particularly if you snag the Firelance, or Alien Blaster early on. Even without them ashing and gooing them gets old after a bit.

Half pound weight, only heals medicine skill, possibly plus 6 points for fast metabolism?

Or perhaps just with no medicine based healing enhancement. It heals 30/36 points flat.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-03, 01:03 AM

Hmm... how about:

Male, any, any, Melee: Big Guns, Medicine

Energy Weapons are imbalanced, particularly if you snag the Firelance, or Alien Blaster early on. Even without them ashing and gooing them gets old after a bit.

Big guns is boring; especially since I am addicted to VATS.

The point with Energy weapons is that you can make the opposite argument too; they are too weak in the beginning if you DON'T stumble across the Fire Lance or Alien Blaster. If all you have is a laser pistol you better have high Luck score, since the difference between a regular hit (4 pts damage I think it is?) and a Chritical Hit (Death by BURRRRNnning) is quite large...

I think I will stick with my original plan, I just need help with a few things:

Male
Race: African-american or Caucasian
Tagged skills: Melee, Energy Weapons and ??? (I think I will go with a very high INT as usual, so even with three tagged skills I will put 4 or 5 points on a forth skill), probably Repair and Science.

Important Stats:
STR 7
INT 9
PER 7
CHA 0

Triaxx

2010-06-03, 07:56 AM

Not if your shots are all sneak attack critical head shots. Big guns aren't so strong most of the time and those that are, are sufficiently difficult to acquire as to be still fair.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-04, 01:17 AM

Not if your shots are all sneak attack critical head shots. Big guns aren't so strong most of the time and those that are, are sufficiently difficult to acquire as to be still fair.

The problem I have with Big Guns are sort of the opposite: I am a VATSaholic, and only the Rock-it launcher, the Missile launcher and maybe then fatman are usable in VATS. The gatlin lasers and miniguns suck in VATS, as you well know.

Triaxx

2010-06-04, 05:20 AM

Maybe explosives instead? Grenades are very VATS friendly.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-04, 05:23 AM

Maybe explosives instead? Grenades are very VATS friendly.

I know, I play Jack, remember :smallbiggrin:

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-05, 05:42 AM

Comments:

I have added the mod Triaxx custom made for me that adds weight to all chems: 0.5 pounds
I have added the mod "Owned" so that places where you kill the owner can be used (sleep in beds etc)
I have added a mod that gives a greater variation of melee weapons
I have added a mod that makes crippling limbs (and getting crippled) much more chritical
I have added a mod that changes RL-3 to a sentry bot

Triaxx

2010-06-05, 11:49 AM

Forgot Jack....

ACE? Cool. Awesome except when it comes back at you. ;)

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-05, 11:56 AM

Forgot Jack....

ACE? Cool. Awesome except when it comes back at you. ;)

I figured it would, like your mod, compensate for the quite large edge I get when combining the Weapon Modification mod and Tailor Maid, which gives much more bonuses than normal to clothing.

Edit:

Comment:

I have also added the "Wyrd Wasteland Perks". Not tried it yet but there seems to be Quality Over Quantity; perks that work, and are not overpowered.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-05, 02:44 PM

Update 45: Jill

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I decided to just go exploring for a while, and my choice was the north-east corner of the map. I decided to start from the edge of the city and just slowly go north.
We headed over towards the Potomac and were suddenly passed by a running BoS paladin...?

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After some walking we ran into the old Cryslus HQ.

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It was a disappointment from our perspective. Full of muties but no loot to speak of. We cleaned the place out and then continued along the edge of the city.

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Soon we found something much better; a Raider's nest right on top of a subway station. Easy kills and tons of loot.

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Continuing eastward we came across a virtual treasure trow: an old National Guard depot. It was full of robots; but also tons of armors and weapons and ammo and... I could not carry even half of everything out of there.

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Going a little further north and then back towards the river, to make sure we weren't missing anything, Lucy and I stumbled over an open sewer pipe. We decided to investigate it.

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The sewer led down into a connection to the subway, and from there down to an underground natural cave system. The caves were full of water, and Mirelurks.
We quickly searched through the caves and found some good stuff, but it was very nice to get outside again.

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...Coming outside we realized the sun was about to go down, and we did not want to be caught off guard outside. We had to decide if we should go back and spend the night in the sewer or press on to find another place before nightfall.

Triaxx

2010-06-05, 09:38 PM

From an RP perspective, there are two options: Back to the National Guard Depot, or north to the Corvega Factory. Naturally the factory is far, far more creepy than getting ambushed.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-07, 01:05 AM

From an RP perspective, there are two options: Back to the National Guard Depot, or north to the Corvega Factory. Naturally the factory is far, far more creepy than getting ambushed.

I think she will go back to the National Guard Depot. :smallsmile:

Update 46: Sheldon

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...Naturally I have no memories of my birth. Others have, of course, but you never remember your own. For me this was the day my mother died, not my birthday. Not really.

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I am Sheldon. This is the way I turned out...

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My ten year birthday was not the best nor the worst I ever had but it was the most important one. It was then I really started bonding with Amata, and it was the year I got my Pip-boy. It was also the year I started helping dad in the lab; I always loved science and projects and...

Oh and dad gave me my BB gun.

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I never liked Butch though. He was a bully, and it was a shame were were so few kids; I had to run into him basically every day.

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Butch constantly harassed Amata. Most of the time I suspected he did it because he didn't dare asking her out, but other times I thought he was just a bastard. Of course the fact that the prettiest girl in the Vault was also harassed by him was good for me, that made it easier for me to talk to her, and she knew what I went through although she didn't share most of my interests.

My work in the lab was mostly just helping dad but I had also built a laser gun almost from scratch. I had not shown it to anyone, and it was dangerous to hold since it didn't have a good grip, but it worked!

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I was sixteen when I took the G.O.A.T. just like everyone else. It turned out really nice; I was surprised that it showed my interest in energy-based weapons, but less so about my passion for Science! I think I will have a bright future in the Vault. Amata seems to like me, too!

Comments:

Yes, I did it, I started a third character!

From now on I will post the pictures of levels and skills for all three characters, I find it interesting to see how the characters grow.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-07, 02:21 AM

ACE? Cool. Awesome except when it comes back at you. ;)

I have set it on "Severe" (the second "worst" setting) and I don't see much difference for myself. For my opponents, sure; if I cripple a leg they definitely move slower than before. But I have not really noticed any big differences on myself. Even with 2-3 crippled limbs I have enough stim packs to fix myself after the fight. Of course I have not tried it with Jill yet, and I am sure a crippled head on a sniper would be a really bad thing.

Also, it is hard to balance challenges, I know that. Just like in most games, all three of my characters has the "all or nothing" results: either kill or be killed. Especially for Jill, the weak sniper, of course who is basically 100% dead if her bullets fail to kill before close combat happens. On the other hand if she does score her shots, everything is dead long before it gets too close (I view it as a FAIL! if she loses more than one "bar" of health in a fight. If she does, I am not playing her right). Sheldon is the opposite of course, even though he takes far less damage usually than expected (so far he loses 10%-20% in most "large" fights); he is only lvl 4(?) still so the opponents are fairly weak (except a Deathclaw Young he came across that killed him. I reloaded and the random spawn was a radscorpion instead, much better!) and even super mutant brutes tend to not do too much damage in close combat before death. If he gets flanked though, he is dead.
Jack is somewhere in the middle, losing about 5%-10% of her heath in major battles.

Triaxx

2010-06-07, 05:06 AM

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-07, 05:19 AM

Trust me, if you're sniping out of VATS, or in it, you're going to want to instantly correct for a crippled head. Blurred vision is NOT fun in a fight. Which is whatmakes the mod so good. And it's not the intermittant blurring of the default, but a constant light/dark effect. Can't see well either.

Best thing is perhaps the enhanced crippling on Ghoul Reavers. As insanely fast as they are, they need that slow down.

That's what I thought (about head damage).

About Reavers: I have not encountered them yet (both girls are between lvl 9-10). But yes, one thing I noticed already is that if I cripple a radscorpion's legs, it actually moves noticeably slower. in Vanilla, a crippled insect moves almost as fast as before (I have never really seen a difference).

I also notice that in combination with MMM, a crippled opponent often tries to run. I assume the improved individual AI in MMM, that makes the opponents better at running away when hurt, has some sort of flag for "am I crippled?" and "How much HP do I have"? Quite often raiders, talons and critters turn and flee so you have to chase them down and put a wood cleaver beteen their shoulder blades (robots don't run, and I guess that is on purpose).

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-07, 12:10 PM

Update 47: Sheldon

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This morning I woke up to a nightmare! Dad had somehow left the vault??! And Amata's father had gone berserk trying to find me because he somehow blamed me? It didn't make sense!

Amata wanted to give me her gun, but I stopped her; if her father has gone off the deep end, she might need it more than me. Besides, I am not good with gunpowder-based weapons.

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I collected what little things I had, grabbed my BB gun and my baseball bat and headed out to try to find a way out of the vault.

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I quickly learned one thing: the security guards were definitely out for my blood, and I was stronger than I thought. Officer Kendall never had a chance.

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Irony is one of the guiding forces in the universe. I rescued Butch's mother from a bunch of radroaches and he gave me his jacket!

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The damned guards doesn't care about us at all. They gunned down two teenagers (my friends!) in cold blood. This means war! Damn them all!

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It turned out it was a good thing to urge Amata to keep her gun. Her father had her interrogated under threat of beating, and she snapped and killed the head of security before running off.

Her father seemed to be in a shock when I entered the room; I could pick his pockets without any resistance.
For Amata's sake I did not take the opportunity to kill him, I just snuck away.

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The outside was amazing, and suddenly I felt far less confident. The leather jacket I was wearing suddenly seemed to offer far less protection than before...

According to the logs in the Overseer's computer I should look for Megaton. I saw it immediately across from a group of ruined buildings and decided to head that way as soon as possible.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-07, 01:00 PM

Update 48: Sheldon

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I got a good welcome in Megaton. The local sheriff was pleased to see me.

After agreeing to try to disarm the bomb(!!!) in the middle of town I headed on to the local bar. I got a bit of a shock when I entered, I saw my first ghoul. A ghoul is a human that somehow survived severe radiation and turned into something... different. The Ghoul in question though was very nice, and tried to help me finding dad. He couldn't, really, but told me to talk to his boss.

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There were far worse individuals in Megaton. A "Mr Burke" wanted me to blow up the bomb!!! I pretended to go along with the idea but ratted him out to Simms immediately.

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Simms came immediately to arrest Burke, but Burke managed to kill him. I was too late to save him, but I re-payed Burke in kind.

...After the events I had to calm down with a drink.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-07, 03:13 PM

Update 49: Sheldon

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I eventually found the owner of the bar. He wanted to sell the information about dad to me for "100 caps", and when I told him I didn't have them he gave me a hint on where to get some.

On the way out of town I realized there was a local merchant in town too. As it turns out she was also somewhat of a fellow scientist! She proposed that I should help her with this "guide" how to survive in the wasteland. I immediately agreed, I hoped to do a fair bit of research myself.

I managed to sell some of the stuff I had collected from the security forces in the vault, and she happened to have an actual laser pistol!!!

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She offered me an armored Vault 101 suit she had put together for someone else at some point. I added a few more details myself that I had found in a sack outside the vault, and suddenly I felt pretty confident.

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I started with going after the woman that the bar owner wanted me to find. Her side of the story was slightly different, to say the least, but she gave me 300 caps to leave her alone.

I quickly returned to the bar and paid Moriarty for the info about my dad. He didn't have much, and just pointed me towards a radio station in central DC.

I took a short detour back to Moira and modified my laser pistol by adding an extended clip to it. Then I took on her first quest; to go to the nearby "SuperDuper Mart" and see if there was any food or medicine left in there.

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The first thing that happened was that I came across an incredibly large ant! I managed to attack it from behind though, so it never really posed any danger to me. Then I came across a stampeding heard of two-headed cows! They were too many to take on by myself but by luck I managed to blow up an old car, killing all of them.

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The Superduper Mart was full of raiders... It would have to take some skill to survive it.

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After fighting my way through the raiders, I managed to salvage some food and medicine. Not enough to make the trip worth it, but anyway. I did find a lot of ammo and assorted equipment though. It seemed that it was a better deal killing and looting raiders, than to actually try to loot the place itself.

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On the way back I found an old sewer waystation. It was full of assorted bugs, and a huge scorpion the size of a dog! I managed to kill it by tricking it to run over two mines and then throw a grenade at it.

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Finding my way down the sewers, I came across a different breed of ghouls. These were rabid, like animals.
There was also a "normal" ghoul making his living down there. He was apparently a cannibal, eating nothing but the flesh of the feral ghouls. He attacked me when I entered his home, but tried to flee when I prove too much for him. I chased him down in the tunnel and killed him.

His house was a treasure trove of junk and stuff. I loaded myself so full I could barely move before making my way back to Moira in Megaton.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-07, 03:27 PM

Update 50: Sheldon

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On the way back I came across a kid that was hunted by "monsters". I decided to help him out... later. He said he knew a safe spot in the mean time so I did not feel too bad for him.

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I met a new woman at the bar, who wanted me to carry a letter to her family in the town of Arefu. I agreed, but told her I had some things to do first.

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I had managed to get my hands on a schematic for a "burning sword" from a caravan merchant. Moira was happy to lend me her workbench to construct it. I was a little skeptical at first but it really looked like a potent weapon.

Moira mentioned something about a large settlement with a working scientific community: Rivet City, on the DC side of the Potomac down by the sea. I decided to head that way before anything else just to see what I would find. Next stop: Rivet City!

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-07, 11:05 PM

Update 51: Sheldon

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I followed the west side of the river until I ran into the "Citadel", the headquarters for a heavily armed and armored group known as the "Brotherhood of Steel". Then I crossed the river.

After a while I had to pass a fort built by some huge hulking monstrosities. Luckily for me the flaming sword was indeed an efficient weapon! Despite that I barely survived the experience...
I did manage to save the life of a woman that apparently was going to be the monster's next meal.

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The welcome at Rivet City was less than polite, but having experienced both the raiders and the mutated monsters I understood why. Harkness, the head of security, let me in after a while, and at first I just headed straight inside, to the market place.

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I bought and sold a lot of equipment and managed to improve my laser pistol even more; I found a scope for it!

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After leaving the market I followed the signs to the "American Preservation Society". It was an attempt to preserve American history run by a man named Abraham Washington. He hired me on the spot to try to find the actual Declaration Of Independence.

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I then went to the actual Science Lab. I was very impressed with what they did with such limited resources.

An amazing thing happened! The leader of the scientists recognized me! Dr Li apparently had been present at my birth! She told me dad was quite close by, in a memorial-turned-lab. Seems I won't have to find the radio station after all!

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I also ran into something else unexpected. A man calling himself Dr Zimmer claimed to have lost an "android". I promised to find this thing / person for him.

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This task proved much MUCH simpler than I thought. I first visited Dr Preston, the local physician. He didn't tell me that much other than to look out for certain tapes with information. He had one such tape himself.

Believe it or not but when I visited the local church inside the city I found one tape that contained information about the android!

I then on a hunch asked one of the merchants if he knew anything and he spilled the beans completely. Apparently Pinkerton, a man that helped founding the very city, was responsible for hiding this android. I kept asking around and the woman running the seedy bar in the bowls of the place finally caved in and told me he was hiding in the other half of the ship.

I guess I had to try to get into that end of the ship city somehow.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-08, 07:22 AM

Update 52: Sheldon

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I had to dive and swim in the irradiated water before finding a way through to the ruined half of Rivet City. The place was full of gas leaks and big crab monsters, Mirelurks. They seemed very hesitant to fight me when I was wielding the burning sword though.

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Pinkerton was indeed alive and well, having converted a section to his own fairly advanced laboratory! He confessed he had changed the android's facial features. It turned out that it was Harkness, the head of security in Rivet City!

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Back in Rivet City I confronted Harkness before letting Zimmer know what I knew. He did not take it well, but after convincing him that he actually wasn't human, he wanted to kill Zimmer for revenge. I convinced him that I should do the killing. He gave me a special plasma rifle (the first one I have ever seen! I will have to take it apart and investigate it later!) as a thank you.

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Zimmer was very excited when I told him that Harkness was his missing android. He rewarded me with both caps and an implant that would make VATS more efficient for me.

However he was less enthusiastic when I butchered him with an axe I had picked up from a super mutant... It did feel good though.

As a sidenote, I must say that even if the burning sword is a better weapon, the feeling of a heavy two-handed weapon is priceless. It felt just right in my hands.

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Dr. Li had told me dad was in the Jefferson Memorial. I had to fight past 4-5 mutants outside to get in, and another 3-4 before finding my way to the actual memorial. I had also found a better weapon than the axe - a two handed heavy wood cleaver. It felt wonderful in my hands.

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Dad was gone. He had left some notes on tape, however and I figured out where he was going. I had to follow him east-north-east back across the river...

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-08, 08:08 AM

Update 53: Sheldon

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Crossing the river and then following the road westwards, I came across several raider settlements. These proved no real challenge though but spotting a town a little to the south I decided to go there.

Unfortunately it seemed to be full of people making no sense.

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Old Man Harris was nuts, but sane, if you know what I mean. The other houses in town were... off. I didn't know it then but something was indeed very wrong with these seemingly perfect families.

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They seemed so determined that I shouldn't look in their basement that I just had to; I picked the key and got the shock of my life...! These people were cannibals. Not like the raiders; these were calm, sane cannibals. They scared the hell out of me.

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When I emerged from the basement everyone was gone. I went outside and spotted them all looking for me!

I ran across the street and dropped a couple a mines inside the door and two more on top of the stairs... The rest... worked out very well!

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It turned out that Old Man Harris was a reformed cannibal. He took the kids under his wings and promised me to raise them right. It felt really good to make a difference!

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-08, 08:38 AM

Update 54: Sheldon

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Going back to the road that lead somewhat towards my father, I quickly found more raiders, this time trying to kill a scavenger. I helped her get rid of them. One of them tried to run, but it didn't do her any good at all.

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I met a traveller going the other way but she tried to mug me when she thought I wasn't paying attention. She tried to take off running with almost 500 of my hard-earned caps, but a wood cleaver in the back made her stop really quickly.

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The rest of the trip west was more of the same. Except for the crazy woman collecting Nuka Cola.

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After talking to her, I turned north and found the gas station hiding the vault entrance I was looking for. The wildlife on the south side of the station was aggressive though, but nothing I couldn't handle.

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Just when I was about to enter, I spotted movement to the north. It was an old military camp, with a working Mr Gutsy robot protecting it still. It almost killed me when I wanted to study it, but it was worth it. I found a laser rifle, and some ammo.

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...The vault beneath the gas station was a surreal experience. The robot brains guarding and maintaining it were not hostile, but they didn't seem to notice that I was "200 years late" either.

Little did I know how much more surreal it would get.

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The vault was no ordinary vault; it was a big computer simulation of a suburb. Also, for some reason, I was a kid again.

I met a "kid" called Betty that wanted me to "have fun" before she told me anything of value. I started with just making the young boy Timmy cry. It was obvious to me that "Betty" really was someone else entirely. It was also quite obvious that I was stuck in the simulation for the time being.

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My second task was to break up the Rockwells (without killing them). I found Janet's diary in their bedroom and it turned out she dreamed of killing Martha Simpson.

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I ran over to the Simpson household with a rolling pin I had found in the Rockwell's kitchen, and killed Martha. Then I walked back and blamed Janet for the whole thing. It worked like a charm.
Betty was slightly irritated though since "she" had to restart the Rockwells and the Simpsons after my little adventure.

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My next quest was to kill Mabel Henderson "in an unusual way". I sabotaged her oven and then made her bake for me. The oven (and her) exploded very sudden.

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My last assignment was to dress up as a legendary urban myth, the "Pint-sized Slasher" and kill everyone in town. I did it, and in return "Betty" let me return to the real world.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-08, 01:54 PM

Update 55: Sheldon

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I managed to get my father out of that place. He wanted me to accompany him back to Rivet City to talk Dr Li into continuing the research, but I had too much left to explore in this new world.

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After talking to dad I turned south, heading for Tenpenny Tower. It was time to find out what kind of place "Mr Burke" came from.
Speaking of him, I got attacked by a group of hitmen with a contract on my head, as punishment for not blowing up Megaton. They did not pose much of a challenge.

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When closing in on the tower, I spotted movement at the parking lot of the old RobCo factory. It turned out it was a scavenger / robot salesman, who offered to sell me a customized Mr Gutsy. After some consideration I agreed to the deal.

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Outside the tower a ghoul was trying to buy himself inside. He seemed very angry that he wasn't allowed in and made all kinds of threats.
I was allowed inside after bribing the guard with 100 caps.

Inside I talked to Chief Gustavo and he offered me plenty of money for killing the ghoul and his friends. I took the job; I needed the money and I didn't like the ghoul's attitude.

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I was told to go to the local train yard, it was the only way in. The Sergeant and I headed off that way.

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The train yard, and the subway beneath it, was crawling with feral ghouls. No surprise, really.

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Soon we found the ghoul's home. As soon as I could, I killed him and his two friends.

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It turned out that the ghouls had a key to a closer subway entrance. We took that route back up, and found an old store that was the home of scavenger. She had a cool set of sunglasses that I got for free. Somehow, this was my lucky day...! She had a workbench too, and I modified both the laser rifle and the plasma rifle so they could hold twice as much ammo.

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Chief Gustavo was really impressed with my work. He paid me well and went back to the boring everyday duties.
I, on the other hand I snuck upstairs to Tenpenny's penthouse. I killed his guard and took his key and went inside.

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Tenpenny was a half-crazy old man, but he refused to see that blowing up Megaton was a bad thing. I hit him so hard with the wood cleaver that his body flew over the railing!

Down on the ground nobody had apparently noticed that the decapitated body of their boss had smacked into the ground from the top floor. ...I quickly looted the body.

Comments:

Okay, I plan to play Sheldon until he is caught up (level 10). Now when I have saved dad, where should I go now?

I have a few ideas:

A) Finish off the complete Survival Guide
B) Arefu
C) The Pitt
D) Anchorage
E) Something else?

Edit: Also, I unchecked the mod that turns the Sergeant into a Sentry Bot; mainly because he had such hard time getting around.

mangosta71

2010-06-08, 03:04 PM

Arefu would be good for your character, for the second Shishkebab schematic if nothing else.

Triaxx

2010-06-08, 09:38 PM

The Pitt, definitely. Auto-Axe FTW.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-12, 08:04 AM

Comments:

When I post this weeks updates tomorrow night you might see something different: I ditched Fellout and am now running the Dynamic Weather mod set. Rain, sandstorms, fog... :smallbiggrin: And a sneak bonus in bad weather and during night time.

Oh and Sheldon is heading for Arefu.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-13, 10:10 PM

More Comments:

The latest "Episode" will be very disjointed; I basically bounced back and forth between different locations selling, buying and activating quests. I promise more structure next time... maybe.

Bugs bugs bugs - Hell of a weird one: I don't know if it happens with the other two too, but Sheldon can't walk by a specific billboard, or FO3 crashes to the desktop. It is the one billboard standing on the slope between the bridge leading north from Bigtown and the Mariestri (sp?) train yard. I can walk around it, if I give it some distance... It is very weird.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-14, 03:56 PM

Update 56: Sheldon

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After first trekking all the way to Rivet City and sold off a lot of items, I decided to go to Arefu to deliver Lucy West's letter to her family. As a caravan left at the same time I decided to tag along for some easy exploring and added safety.

Right after I made that decision I got an offer to escort a group of people to Arefu. Since I was going there anyway, I agreed.

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By the time we met our first opposition, we were quite a group. Me, the six people I was escorting, Lucky Harith and his BoS guards, and another group of six travellers that also were going the same way.

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After a very hard fight with two heavily armed super mutants on an overpass, the rest was a breeze for a while. Then a sandstorm came and I almost lost the caravan.

It cleared up just after we took out a very large Raider nest. I had to stay behind to keep my "escortees" from rushing into battle.

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We passed by Megaton without stopping and continued to the northeast, going back across the river again. After fighting off minor treats, like radscorpions and dogs, we stopped in Canterbury Commons, a heavily defended town.

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I decided to go for a stroll and came across a surreal thing: a "Battle" between "Superheroes". One girl dressed like a moron (ant, actually) and boy dressed in an even dumber outfit fighting it out with robots and giant bugs.
After they were done, the mayor of the town apologized for their behavior and asked if I could help him solve the issue. I told him I would, but not right now. I had to follow the caravan.

It turns out he was the one organizing the caravans in the first place, and he offered to help me invest in them so to improve their selection of goods. I agreed.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-14, 04:10 PM

Update 57: Sheldon

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As darkness fell, we had made our way to the Temple Of The Union, a place I didn't bother to investigate; I just rested together with the others.

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The dead of night was filled with Night Ghouls! All the way from the Temple until we reached the place called "Paradise Falls", we were harassed by small groups of the creatures.

It turns out Paradise Falls was a slaver base. They offered me a job, and I took it. For now, at least.
I decided to skip the caravan from here, wait until morning in safety, and then go to Arefu without the added escort of the caravan.

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On the way to Arefu we found another subway entrance, but I didn't get to investigate it then, with six people under my wing.

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Without any problems we crossed the river again and found Arefu. The town, if you could call it that, was in dire straits however. They were under constant attack by a specific gang called "The Family". And they had killed Lucy's parents and kidnapped her little brother.

After the people I had escorted had paid me, I offered my help to the town leader and found myself going back to the subway station I had discovered that morning.

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-14, 10:51 PM

Update 58: Sheldon

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The search for The Family forced me underground. A small number of Mirelurks thought I looked delicious, but I handled those with ease.

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After talking my way through the gatekeeper, I met Vance. He admitted after a while that the whole group was "vampires"; cannibals that only drank blood, and didn't eat the flesh.
It turned out that Lucy's brother was the one that killed his parents (and ate parts of them) and that Vance had taken him to try to teach him to control himself.

After a lot of talking and running back and forth I managed to negotiate a deal; the people of Arefu gave blood packs to The Family, in exchange for protection. In fact, everyone was happy with this solution.

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After setting up the deal with The Family, I went down to Tenpenny to negotiate another kind of deal. It was time to do that job for the slavers in Paradise Falls.
They had a number of "VIPs"; one of them being a young lady living in Tenpenny Tower.
I had borrowed a "Hypnotizer Gun" from them to test out; a fascinating piece of equipment! It worked pretty good and she soon had no choice than to get herself to Paradise Falls.

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After delivering Susan Landcaster to Paradise Falls, I was allowed inside and met the leader of the slavers, calling himself Eulogy Jones. He offered me a very special body guard for "Only 1000 Caps". I told him I would get her, but I needed to collect more cash first.

It seemed like I needed to collect more slaves...

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-18, 12:10 PM

Update 59: Sheldon

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Wandering in a zig-zag pattern southwards I managed to kill a young Deathclaw when passing through Girdershade.

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Looking for enough money to buy Clover, I used the hypno-gun thing on the old woman by the waterfront.

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I walked across the bridge after plundering her home, and came across a gang or Raiders doing a... Hazing? I managed to take them by surprise.

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I ran into a very strange man in a building across the bridge; he was living the high life with two women he "protected" in exchange for favors... I tried to enslave him but his head exploded. Literary. I guess the gun has severe side effect.
The women did not seem to care that he was dead, so I plundered the building and then went back to Tenpenny tower.

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On the top floor, where I had already killed one guard to get inside Tenpenny's appartment, I managed to enslave the new guard. This should give me enough money to get Clover.

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I quickly cashed in my caps and then bought Clover from Eulogy.

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We decided to continue with the slaver's quest, so we went eastward towards Minefield. On the way there I was suddenly very happy that I had mounted a scope on my laser rifle. The biggest Super Mutant I had ever seen was standing on the road below us... I was sweating just thinking about stumbling over it down there...!

Avilan the Grey

2010-06-23, 03:06 PM

UPDATE:

I have to give up on this project. I bit off more than I can chew; I can't handle three characters, especially not, I admit, when restarting Dragon Age: Origins too.

However, here is, if anyone is interested, what I consider essential mods that I really recommend:

Marts Mutant Mod - Of course.
Xepha's Dynamic Weather - Much better than Fellout.
Darker Interiors - A bigger contrast between dark and light areas inside. No more magically translucent buildings...
Streetlights - Much better streetlights etc
Streetlights Wasteland - Expands the mod above to also cover random lights still working in the wasteland
Can Opener - A mod for making Power Armor harder to come by and mantain, but instead improves the stats of them
Caravan Guards - Gives every caravan 5 essential BoS, Enclave or Gary guards
Immortal Caravans - Makes the actual caravan guys essential, too
Cantenbury Commons Guards - Places a number of (well made) guard towers around the town, so that everyone isn't killed by the high end spawns
Better Custom Weapon Repair - Makes it possible to repair the custom weapons with parts, not just complete weapons (for example repair the railway gun with steam gauge assemblies)
Slower Degradation - Makes things last twice as long before they need repairs. Recommended if you are using Can Opener, since it is very hard to repair power armor with that mod active
Wyrd Wasteland Perks - A small number of well thought-thru perks
Weapon Mod Kits - Exactly what it says on the tin
ACE2 -Makes wounding limbs so much more profitable. And horrible, if it happens to you...

And finally a mod that is severely overpowered, but I use anyway: Tailor Made. Really cool details for your outfits. Unfortunately many of them has way too much bonuses. But I use it anyway because it is so cool.

Also, thanks to Triaxx for the neat little mod that makes chems weight 0.5 pounds. Just what I needed.