Fallout 3

[Myatar_Panwar]

One day before the release of this beauty, and still no thread? Shame on us! Anyway, like I said, 1 more day! Whooo!

Some useful links:
Main site (http://fallout.bethsoft.com/eng/home/home.php?fbid=YV4w65edMkl)
Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPdJ3BAOCe4)
A series of gameplay videos initiated by Bethesda which shows one path a megaton quest can take.
Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dAjzC4h51A)
Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFb_TOlFkfs)
Part 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6NNEnajIW8)
Part 4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFi5xy1lbYQ)
Part 5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGqOt_QdWuE)
The Manual (http://cdn.steampowered.com/Manuals/22300/fallout3_us_pc_manual.pdf?t=1224882949)

So, first characters? I think I'm gonna make a stealthy guy with a knack for destroying people via power fists and sledge hammers.

[Inhuman Bot]

O.o

I thought this was being made in november!

Seems I'am wrong.

Or maybe thats only for canada.

Charcter plan: A Heroic gunslinger, who will use laser weapons as soon as possible.

He wil NEVER do anything evil.

Along with his opposite, a melee using Thug, who will never do good.

[Traikan]

I'll probably go the standard route of an all good character of one variety, then an all evil character of the most different variety. (Probably ranged/melee in this case) Then for the my third character I'll probably try to make some kind of chemical junkie who picks the most off the wall options for everything. I've been deliberately avoiding learning too much about the game though, so I'll have to see what kind of options are available.

As a heads-up for those interested, word on the street (a.k.a. Bethesda forums) is that if there is a "Fallout Script Extender" like the ones for Morrowind and Oblivion, it may very well not work with the steam or Direct 2 Drive versions of Fallout 3. I already preordered mine on steam, so I'm hoping that's not the case. Other mods will work fine.

[Prustan]

Hmmm. Probably some kind of heroic gunslinger type. Most likely using assault rifles, aiming for high critical rates. Might use sniper rifles, but given that I'll probably play like a FPS, don't think that's too likely.
Doesn't release over here until Friday though, and I probably won't be able to play until Monday at the earliest :smallfrown:

[Tekar]

The hype is a lie!

[Archonic Energy]

One day before the release of this beauty, and still no thread? Shame on us! Anyway, like I said, 1 more day! Whooo!

:smallmad:
i have to wait till Friday... (well because i pre-ordered it it'll be thursday but still...)

anyway, i've been debating re-playing 1 & 2 before i start on 3. but i'm not sure how well they'll hold up against "modern" games, i tried BG a while ago but it was lacking that "Je ne sai quoi" that it had when i played it all those years ago (strangely i can put up with all of Torment's faults...) & i really don't want to ruin my rose tinted memories of this series...

[Tom_Violence]

:smallmad:
i have to wait till Friday... (well because i pre-ordered it it'll be thursday but still...)

anyway, i've been debating re-playing 1 & 2 before i start on 3. but i'm not sure how well they'll hold up against "modern" games, i tried BG a while ago but it was lacking that "Je ne sai quoi" that it had when i played it all those years ago (strangely i can put up with all of Torment's faults...) & i really don't want to ruin my rose tinted memories of this series...

Don't worry man. I played through 2 recently and its definitely still as good as I remember.

As for the topic at hand, hopefully very soon I'll be ordering my new computer so Fallout 3 is no longer such a remote possibility! :smallbiggrin:

[RPGuru1331]

Not getting F3 until I play F2 some; I can not enjoy a game with a looming timer, so F1 is just not even going to be played. If I have fun with F2.. then we'll see.

I still predict massive NERD RAGE though.

[Poison_Fish]

Not getting F3 until I play F2 some; I can not enjoy a game with a looming timer, so F1 is just not even going to be played. If I have fun with F2.. then we'll see.

I still predict massive NERD RAGE though.

There will always be NERD RAGE when a game changes style from how it was previously.

I'll enjoy the game as a standalone if I need to think of it that way. The only comparisons to the previous games I'll be making are strictly fluff. Mechanics be damned.

Granted, I enjoyed Fallout 2 quite a bit.

[Tengu_temp]

I think I'll play the standard Fallout archetype - "Heroic Gunslinger Scientist with Speech". The name of the archetype is Almost Gordon Freeman.

[Tom_Violence]

Not getting F3 until I play F2 some; I can not enjoy a game with a looming timer, so F1 is just not even going to be played. If I have fun with F2.. then we'll see.

I still predict massive NERD RAGE though.

I wouldn't worry too much about the timer in the the original - even if you take the game at a reasonably casual pace it doesn't become an issue.

[TwoBitWriter]

I think I'll play the standard Fallout archetype - "Heroic Gunslinger Scientist with Speech". The name of the archetype is Almost Gordon Freeman.

Gordon Freeman wouldn't have speech. You should substitute speech with Melee Weapons.

Edit: @^ It would be easier just to tell him where the Water Chip is so he can get it out of the way real quick and not have to worry about the REAL time (which takes a very long time to go into effect.)

[Tengu_temp]

Gordon Freeman wouldn't have speech. You should substitute speech with Melee Weapons.


Guess why the archetype is named Almost Gordon Freeman?

[TwoBitWriter]

Wow... I didn't quite catch that... :smallredface:

Well, I still think you should go ahead and go all the way, though getting small arms and melee is a pretty bad waste of tagged skills...

I, unfortunately, will be unable to purchase Fallout today, even though I have a pre-order... I just need to go bleed some more for the cash I need.

[Myatar_Panwar]

For those who just can't be bothered to actually drive to the store, you can also get this game off of steam.


I still predict massive NERD RAGE though.
Well yeah, I don't see how there coulden't be. It is a perk you know.:smallwink:

[The Evil Thing]

The Manuel (http://cdn.steampowered.com/Manuals/22300/fallout3_us_pc_manual.pdf?t=1224882949)
Manual is spelt with an a, Manuel. :smallwink:
Also, I think something in that link is broken, although it may just be my Adobe Reader playing silly buggers.

Also, "What are you doing for Hallowe'en?"
"I'm going to sit at my desk and play Fallout 3."

[Crispy Dave]

:smallmad:
i have to wait till Friday... (well because i pre-ordered it it'll be thursday but still...)

anyway, i've been debating re-playing 1 & 2 before i start on 3. but i'm not sure how well they'll hold up against "modern" games, i tried BG a while ago but it was lacking that "Je ne sai quoi" that it had when i played it all those years ago (strangely i can put up with all of Torment's faults...) & i really don't want to ruin my rose tinted memories of this series...

1 is available free on gametap.

[late for dinner]

I want to make a rocket launcher and kill people with lunch boxes and teddy bears. oh and big explosions. they always help.

[ghost_warlock]

My cousin, who I'm sharing a duplex with, just walked in with a copy of the game. I'm sort of jealous, but I'm soooooo afraid that there's no way the game could ever live up to my expectations. :smallfrown: I've had my heart broken before, and...I just don't think I could take it coming from a fallout game.

[harsh realm]

Not getting F3 until I play F2 some; I can not enjoy a game with a looming timer, so F1 is just not even going to be played. If I have fun with F2.. then we'll see.


Yea. As far as playing F1 I found that I couldn't endure the combat. This may be because I followed my standard character design for today's easy rpgs. (I put full points in charisma to ensure a challenge and then I try to make a really goofy looking character)

For me, I think the addition of action might actually be nice if they can stay true to the feel/story.

[TwoBitWriter]

Thats my biggest concern, really, is that they don't screw up the story. Not that that would be very easy to do, as this game takes place on the opposite end of the continent...

But I trust Bethesda. They had a shaky start, but Morrowind and Oblivion were both very quality games.

Does anyone else hope that they manage to keep the Mature level of gameplay? I always appreciated that the first two Fallout games didn't pull any punches when it came to... "reality" (New Reno, anyone?)

[Poison_Fish]

Also, "What are you doing for Hallowe'en?"
"I'm going to sit at my desk and play Fallout 3."

I'm going to a comic book store that closes down at 7 to play a roleplaying game.

As fun as Fallout 3 is, <_<.

[XBobbis]

After a good 5 or 6 hours, I'm ready to render my decision.

It's a very good game, but.

It doesn't feel like Fallout, it really does feel more like Oblivion than a true Fallout game.

[Terraoblivion]

And pray, enlighten me as to how a true Fallout game feels? Having played the first two Fallout games at least twice each, i cannot remember if i might have played one or both of them more times, i would say that if i were to call them similar to any other games i have played it would be Morrowind and Oblivion. Both series really don't give a damn about the overarching plot, nor do they care too much about making your character a part of anything. Instead they focus on you being the lone gunman/swordsman out to take on the world as he damn well pleases. The primary differences are that Fallout was generally better written, at the cost of a less ambitious scope, much, much uglier and in the case of Fallout 2 more vulgar as well. As long as the retrofuturistic look is kept intact, the 40s and 50s music is there and there is a general sense of desolation it will be as Fallout as a game can become.

[XBobbis]

I can't put my finger on it exactly; maybe if you play it for a bit you'll see what I mean. I feel more like I'm playing Oblivion one apocalypse later rather than the same world Fallout took place in.

I did say it was my decision; I'm just throwing my opinion out there. I'm not saying it's bad by any means, I'm still going to enjoy the hell out of it.

But what I meant by true Fallout was the entire world, including how it was written. Also, though I can't tell if you're saying uglier and vulgar as a negative, it was still part of what sucked you into the idea that you actually were in a desolate wasteland.

[TwoBitWriter]

I can't put my finger on it exactly; maybe if you play it for a bit you'll see what I mean. I feel more like I'm playing Oblivion one apocalypse later rather than the same world Fallout took place in.

I did say it was my decision; I'm just throwing my opinion out there. I'm not saying it's bad by any means, I'm still going to enjoy the hell out of it.

But what I meant by true Fallout was the entire world, including how it was written. Also, though I can't tell if you're saying uglier and vulgar as a negative, it was still part of what sucked you into the idea that you actually were in a desolate wasteland.

I thought that the vulgarity and ugliness of everything was a more realistic representation of a world where death and starvation are daily threats... it better captures the hopelessness of the setting.

[Terraoblivion]

Except that the ugliness mostly came from the archaic graphics system and the fact that the graphics designers had a bit of an overreliance on brown, even on things that didn't really need to be brown. As for the vulgarity it was practically non-existant in Fallout 1, to run all over the place in Fallout 2. I still remember there being a quest in Fallout 2 where you had to blow up a toilet using dynamite. And it might just be me, but i feel that the atmosphere worked much better in Fallout 1 than 2.

[TwoBitWriter]

I will agree that Fallout 1 seemed to take the concept more seriously, and Fallout 2 seemed almost a parody of that same idea.

[Semidi]

I have Fallout 3 sitting next to me, uninstalled, because I have a midterm I have to study for.

It's a test of will... and I'm failing.

[The Evil Thing]

Tsk... Amazon had to pick this game to sit on and not post early.

EDIT: Oh well, it gives me time to finish Far Cry 2.

[Pyro]

It looks SOOOO good, but I have school and study to do...maybe in a few months Fallout 3.

[warty goblin]

It looks SOOOO good, but I have school and study to do...maybe in a few months Fallout 3.

That's where I'm at. I'm buried under constant new landslides of studying, and already have a small pile of games I am nowhere near done with yet. But I will play Fallout 3, mark my words. Any game that allows me to get my Space Marine on in such wonderful ways must be played.

[Driderman]

Been playing this for a few days now and looking forward to my day off tomorrow.
I'll second the fact that it is a very good game. There are some annoyances though. As stated, it doesn't fully "feel" like a Fallout game, but for being a game made by Bethesda in the Fallout universe, I'm positively surprised.

Still, dialog trees seem rather short and limited comparing to Fallout 2 and I can't shake the feeling that Bethesda wanted so bad to show that this IS a Fallout game that they went a bit overboard with the presentation. D.C is flooded with chems and you're exposed to ghouls, super mutants and what not before you've played a couple of hours. Seems like the producers were in a bit of a rush to make sure the game was full of "Fallout" content from the very beginning.

On the plus side, the atmosphere of the game is great, the wrecked cityscapes are awe-inspiring and the VATS combat system works really well in my opinion. It also seems like the story might be interesting but haven't gotten too far with that part yet.

As for the mature rating, the game has blood, guts, gore and drugs that should appease all. On the other hand, I apparently paid a "working" woman 120 caps to lie on the bed next to me and didn't even get as much as a snarky comment for my caps. So I think we can safely rule out any New Reno-esque mature themes

[Helgraf]

I'll be squirrling this one come Christmastime.

I figure that'll also give it two months to get patches out if need be. ;)

As for character, I'll probably go with my first hunch. Speechy/Stealy, with small guns for the neccesary fightin'.

[Semidi]

I've played through a bit of it, and am really enjoying it. I don't think I can ever get tired of blowing the tops of people's heads off either.

It doesn't feel like Fallout. The combat's too different, and usually in fallout, you're in specific areas that are populated with "stuff." In Fallout 3, there are vast parts of the game without "stuff." I don't know, apples and orange--but I like both kinds of fruit.

The feeling I get when playing it is the same feeling I get when playing System Shock 2. You're alone in an unfeeling world, and you have to constantly scavenge for anything to put bullets in stuff.

It also feels like Morrowind. Specifically the parts of the game when I would just be wandering around and I see a ruin or something in the distance and I wonder, "What's in there?" That's the same feeling I get with Fallout 3, I'll be walking to a mission and I'll see a church in the distance and wonder, "what's in there?"

Though it doesn't at all feel like Oblivion with guns. Mostly because I didn't really like Oblivion that much, and I'm loving Fallout 3.

My two biggest problems so far are the walking animations (they suck) and the weapon performance outside of VATS. I guess the game wasn't made for running and gunning; I guess I'm too used to general fps games. VATS is awesome though.

[charl]

My two biggest problems so far are the walking animations (they suck) and the weapon performance outside of VATS. I guess the game wasn't made for running and gunning; I guess I'm too used to general fps games. VATS is awesome though.

Guns aren't made for running and gunning. Not that the fallout setting is supposed to be realistic or anything...

[Pronounceable]

As for the mature rating, the game has blood, guts, gore and drugs that should appease all. On the other hand, I apparently paid a "working" woman 120 caps to lie on the bed next to me and didn't even get as much as a snarky comment for my caps. So I think we can safely rule out any New Reno-esque mature themes

Wait, they're back to caps? What happened to the money?

[Driderman]

I assume it to be one of the "let's make sure everyone knows this is a Fallout game" concessions. That, or real money just never caught on in the D.C Wasteland...

[Terraoblivion]

The money of Fallout 2 was coined by the New California Republic, i somehow doubt they have a whole lot of clout or ability to mint coins in DC. So with the abundance bottle caps apparently have in post-apocalyptic USA it really does make perfect sense that they would become the vehicle of trade in several different areas, especially ones without a government capable of minting coins.

[Inhuman Bot]

IS there a gore level adjuster?

I don't really like games with massive explosions of blood, which I gather fallout games have.

I don't want my charcter to paint a whole town red when he kills something with a pistol, and isn't using bloody mess.

[jamroar]

How does the new combat system work?

[Person_Man]

I pre-ordered this game months ago. Read up about it on the dev sites. Got the 360 version of Fallout 3 yesterday afternoon via Amazon same day delivery. I played it continuously from 5pm until 3am, with a half hour break to talk to my girlfriend and eat. Here's my take:

1) If you liked Oblivion, you will love Fallout 3. It looks and feels very similar. Tons of places to explore. Very open gameplay.

2) The biggest change seems to be that most (though not all of the) enemies don't scale. There are hard parts of the world, and easy parts. If you want to beat a hard part, you have to either be very careful, very lucky, use a ton of healing, or leave and come back when you're a higher level. Furthermore, level 20 is the highest you can go, which makes having an overall build in mind important at the beginning of the game.

3) The game is ridiculously flexible. You can play it as a first person shooter, or as a stealth game, or as a Gish (melee and explosives), or as a pseudo turn based game, or all four. If you invest in non-combat Skills, you can also bypass much (though never all) of the violence by using Speech, Lockpick, Repair, Science, Sneak, and/or certain Perks, and usually get more treasure.

4) The game is still buggy. The game crashed on me once, and there were very big graphic errors twice, something that was only fixed by saving and reloading the game. It's also frustrating to navigate some areas, as everything seems to be a gray or brown, and many parts of the map are three dimensional (so you have to find and use a certain stairway if you want to get to a certain door, instead of just following the compass and walking there in a strait line). I also have to turn up the gamma lighting every time I go indoors/underground, because otherwise it's very difficult to see where items and containers are.

What I've learned about optimization from one night of playing:


Stats:

So, each stat adds base points to certain Skills. But this really isn't that important, since you can pump any Skill as you gain levels. But each Skill also has hard wired effects on the game, which is what I'll discuss.

1) Str: Adds to melee damage and carrying capacity. People who want to do just melee will be at a huge disadvantage in this game, since 80%+ of enemies have a ranged attack. You can get around this by investing in Stealth and close combat Perks heavily, and playing the game like Splinter Cell. I also highly suggest that you invest in Explosives or Big Guns for crowd control and taking out snipers and turrets. Also, there are a ton of items lying around everywhere, which you can pick up, lug back to town, and sell. So if you're a packrat, you'll want respectable Str. I'm not though, and a Str of 4 seemed like plenty for me.

2) Perception: Determines how soon you notice enemies on your compass. A Perception of 6 is also needed for the Sniper and Light Step Perks, which seem like they're going to be very useful. I had no trouble with a Perception of 3 though, as I just turned off the music and listened for enemies. Plus a lot of the combat takes place in closed in spaces (essentially dungeons) where long range sniping isn't possible.

3) Endurance: Hit points and radiation resistance. As long as you stock up on healing items, there's no reason to pump this stat. Endurance 5 is needed for the Toughness Perk, which seems like it can be very potent if you invest in it repeatedly. But again, because the game pauses when you go into your Pip Boy (where you heal) having more hit points basically just saves you money. You never want to dump this stat though, because some enemies have missiles and whatnot that deal a ton of damage.

4) Charisma: Dump stat. If you want to be social, you can still invest heavily in the Speech and/or Barter Skills and still be excellent at them. There are special dialogue options that you can only get with high Cha though. So I think I'll pump this stat the second time I play through, to maximize roleplaying and increase the challenge of the game.

5) Intelligence: This adds to the number of Skill points you gain each level. So someone with Int of 10 at 1st level gets 100 extra Skill points over the course of your 20 levels compared to someone with an Int of 5.

6) Agility: Action Points. A big option in the game is the ability to pause in the middle of combat. You can then target specific body parts on the enemy (with decreased % of hitting), and then unpause the game, and the computer will shoot for you. You can do this normally without pausing the game just by aiming the cross hair at your enemy's head or whatnot. But I'm a huge fan of this option, because I play mostly strategy games and barely played Doom/Halo/Counterstrike/etc, and liked the turn based combat of Fallout 1 and 2. However, if you're good at FPS games and don't like pausing the game in the middle of combat, then I suggest you dump Agility.

7) Luck: Passively effects everything, and increases the chance of crits. I don't understand exactly how the Luck mechanic works. I'd like to pump it, but I really didn't have the points to do so.


Skills:

Barter: Saves you cash. Helpful, not really necessary.

Big Guns and/or Explosives: These deal the most damage in the game, but are also the hardest to find. So while they can be very awesome, it's very impractical to invest in them as your primary combat Skill.

Energy Weapons or Small Guns: Pick one. Invest in it. Energy weapons deal somewhat more damage, but are somewhat harder to find ammo for. Small Guns includes the Sniper Rifle, which can be ridiculously helpful.

Lockpick: Some doors and treasure containers can only be opened with a high lockpick. You also need this Skill for certain quests. This is a helpful, though not essential.

Medicine: Basically this just saves you cash, because you use fewer Stimpaks. But if cash is really a problem for you, just invest in Barter.

Melee Weapons or Unarmed: Most players should completely ignore these. But as I discuss in Str above, it's a viable playing option who those who want to invest heavily invest in one or the other.

Repair: This Skill saves you money by allowing you to repair your own equipment, and improves the starting condition of custom made weapons. There are also a few quests which require this. Helpful, but not essential.

Science: Makes hacking easier. Essentially the same thing as Lockpick, but for different doors.

Sneak: Let's you change the feel of the game from Doom to Splinter Cell. Doing so makes combat take MUCH longer though. I'd skip it unless you're going for the close combat path.

Speech: Gives you a higher chance of success in many dialogue options. This often gets you more money, and can change the plot of the game. If you're a roleplayer like me, you definitely want to invest in this. But if you're the type of player that skips through dialogue, then you can skip this Skill as well.

[late for dinner]

Ok so yesterday I traded in 2 games and paid all the money that I own and left myself with 15 cents to last until friday so I could get Fallout 3 because I was really excited for it. I am coming on a different angle because I have never had a computer of my own (this is my work pc) so I have never played fallouts 1 or 2. So this is just brand new to me...I gotta say that i like the game a lot. I am a repairing heavy and small guns expert and I almost have my Small guns maxed out...86 without any perks. I started out the game(after I left the shelter) just wandering aimlessly arount with a pistol and a baseball bat. I stumbled across Big Town where I agreed to do a search and rescue mission. As I was heading toward the location, I ran into some raiders with a sawed off shotgun and Hunting rifle. Thus, My weapon collecting began. I dont want to go into any little details, but my friend brought up some trouble he was having...finding weapons and stores. He was just getting lost and not knowing what to do. So, for all of you reading this that have yet to play the game, my suggestion to you is that if you want to get some weapons as soon as possible, stick to the story for a little while. It's totally worth it, especially since when you get to Washington D.C. you get plenty of ammo from all the bad guys..and good guys that have fallen.

[tyckspoon]

4) The game is still buggy. The game crashed on me once, and there were very big graphic errors twice...


And people said it wouldn't be like the old Fallout. Sounds like Bethesda got it right to me. :smalltongue:

[Triaxx]

Any opportunities to get free stuff with a female wearing leather armor named Buffy?

[Person_Man]

How does the new combat system work?

It's simple to learn, complex to master. On the surface it seems very much like a First Person Shooter, similar to Doom or Quake or a thousand other FPS. But that's just the surface.

First, most enemies have a pretty realistic AI. They don't just shoot at you as soon as you come on to the screen or within X feet of them. They have to see or hear you. You can negate this by using the Sneak Skill, or by just being careful about where you're standing and walking slowly so that they don't hear your footsteps. If you hit an enemy while sneaking, it automatically takes a critical hit, which often disables or kills them. But if his friends hear you kill him, they come running to see what happened. Enemies are sometimes in fortified positions, with some mix of mines, turrets, snipers, etc. And enemies use a wide variety of weapons against you. So sometimes its easy to just march around killing people. And other times you need to be like a ninja.

Second, there are a ton of weapons. Melee weapons, guns, energy weapons, heavy weapons, mines, and grenades. Each group of weapons is linked to a Skill, which determines how accurate you are with the weapons group. Each weapon has varying qualities - range, damage, accuracy, zoom ability, noise level, blast radius, Action Points needed to fire in VATS, and occasionally special effects. And with the exception of melee, all of these weapons have limited ammo. The general feel and tactics of the game vary widely based on what weapons you use most of the time. It's also worth mentioning that if you're moving while trying to shoot someone, your shots are far less accurate. So it behooves you to actually use actual tactics (cover, ambushes, sneaking up, etc), rather then just running around and firing repeatedly.

Third, you can target individual body parts of an enemy. You hit a button, and the game pauses and zooms in on your enemies. You pick a body part: Torso is easiest to hit. Headshot deals the most damage. Enemies with melee weapons can be easily disabled by shooting them in the leg. Enemies can be disarmed by literally shooting their weapon arm off. You have a limited number of Action Points (based on your Agility), which determines how many shots you can queue up. When you unpause combat, the game aims and fires for you in slow motion, and then goes back to normal combat. Action Points only regenerate when you're not attacking. So after you use VATS, you either have to shoot manually, or hide from the enemy wait.

Finally, you have the option of gaining a dog. Plus you have the option of bringing along one ally (you meet various people during the course of the game, some of which will offer to join you if you have the right personality/quests and ask them to come with you). You can also lay mines and reprogram turrets and robots. So there's the option of party and environment management going on as well.

So, combat is simultaneously a first person shooter, a stealth game, a melee combat game, a tactics game, and a turn based game.

[LoopyZebra]

Well, I had this nice post prepared about Fallout 3, but the internets ate it. And I have to get to class, so I'm not going to rewrite. Suffice it to say, this game is awesome.

Additionally, shopping carts are your enemy and are in league with the Reavers. However, unlike Reavers, you should not shoot the shopping carts because that just works into their dark plan.

[Kane]

I'm highly interested in getting fallout 3, but would like to know what type of copy protection software it has on it. Anything nasty?

[The Orange Zergling]

I'm highly interested in getting fallout 3, but would like to know what type of copy protection software it has on it. Anything nasty?

AFAIK it's nothing like SecuROM. I didn't even have to enter a CD key.

I also am enjoying Fallout 3, but am being pissed off at land mines blowing my legs off with no warning. Damn things are hard to see...

[warty goblin]

I'm highly interested in getting fallout 3, but would like to know what type of copy protection software it has on it. Anything nasty?

IIRC all you need is the disk in the drive, pretty much the same as with Oblivion.

[Mewtarthio]

Regrettably, the most advanced game that my laptop can run comfortably is Bioshock (though I did manage to get through Half-Life 2 and both episodes with copious use of the Save button... stupid Dell, nVidia, and Vista...), and the only console I have access to is a Wii. Maybe I'll be able to play this game after Christmas...

[warty goblin]

Regrettably, the most advanced game that my laptop can run comfortably is Bioshock (though I did manage to get through Half-Life 2 and both episodes with copious use of the Save button... stupid Dell, nVidia, and Vista...), and the only console I have access to is a Wii. Maybe I'll be able to play this game after Christmas...

OK, there is something majorly screwy with your laptop in that case. HL2 takes way less computational power than a UE3 game like Bioshock. My desktop for example can run HL2 just fine with pretty much everything turned on, yet Bioshock (or at least the demo) brings it to its knees, although I partially blame this on the crappy console-centric optimization used in UE3 , since it handles Crysis on near-medium just fine and every UE3 game I've played has run like crap.

[Mc. Lovin']

I've got to decide to either get this game for PC or X-Box ...
On PC I can only run it on bare minimum, but on 360 it doesn't have the keyboard ...

[Bouregard]

I've got to decide to either get this game for PC or X-Box ...
On PC I can only run it on bare minimum, but on 360 it doesn't have the keyboard ...

Theyrealease it for PC? I thought it was another 360 game? *needtobuyit*

[Bryn]

Theyrealease it for PC? I thought it was another 360 game? *needtobuyit*

Not only is it available on PC, it can be got through Steam for automatic updates and such. Good ol' Steam... (this is where you lynch me :smallamused:)

Still playing through Fallout 2, because I haven't finished it yet and the Steam release date doesn't turn up until tomorrow, bizarrely.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Not only is it available on PC, it can be got through Steam for automatic updates and such. Good ol' Steam... (this is where you lynch me :smallamused:)

Still playing through Fallout 2, because I haven't finished it yet and the Steam release date doesn't turn up until tomorrow, bizarrely.

Can you imagine this? Here in the UAE, we have a big Virgin superstore that is usually at the spearhead of PC games. They have all the console's Fallout 3, but NOT FREAKING PC VERSION!!! :smallfurious:

[Avilan the Grey]

Okay, one critical question!

System specs for this game? I assume I can run it (I can run oblivion on very high quality (not resolution, I have 1200x800, but texture quality, light and such).

[jamroar]

Okay, one critical question!

System specs for this game? I assume I can run it (I can run oblivion on very high quality (not resolution, I have 1200x800, but texture quality, light and such).

Apparently,

Minimum
Windows XP/Vista
1GB System RAM (XP)/ 2GB System RAM (Vista)
2.4 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 256MB RAM (NVIDIA 6800 or better/ATI X850 or better)

Recommended
Intel Core 2 Duo processor
2 GB System RAM
Nvidia Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 512MB RAM (NVIDIA 8800 series, ATI 3800 series)


And people said it wouldn't be like the old Fallout. Sounds like Bethesda got it right to me. :smalltongue:
That's one feature of the original Fallout I think we can all do without.

[late for dinner]

AFAIK
I also am enjoying Fallout 3, but am being pissed off at land mines blowing my legs off with no warning. Damn things are hard to see...


ah yes the "Where the hell did that beep beep beep come from?" BOOOM! before you can even react to it land mine. They suck.

[warty goblin]

ah yes the "Where the hell did that beep beep beep come from?" BOOOM! before you can even react to it land mine. They suck.

Sounds about right for a landmine to me though...

[Mc. Lovin']

for people who want to know if they're PC can run stuff use "system requirement labs" - google it. It really does help :smallsmile:


Not only is it available on PC, it can be got through Steam for automatic updates and such. Good ol' Steam... (this is where you lynch me :smallamused:)

Still playing through Fallout 2, because I haven't finished it yet and the Steam release date doesn't turn up until tomorrow, bizarrely.

Careful Z! Getting it through steam means no mods!

[Avilan the Grey]

for people who want to know if they're PC can run stuff use "system requirement labs" - google it. It really does help :smallsmile:

Careful Z! Getting it through steam means no mods!


Yeah yeah, but I was at work at the time and game sites don't work. :smallannoyed:

[Traikan]

I've only played a couple of hours so far, but I'd like to echo all the previous statements confirming how awesome it is. Combat with VATS feels very cool and RPGesque, although having to sink that last few shots in is obnoxious. I haven't had much of a chance to try out crafting, but I'm looking forward to it.


Careful Z! Getting it through steam means no mods!
Just to clarify, any mods that add .esp or .esm files WILL work with the steam install, but anything like the Oblivion Script Extender that modifies the .exe WILL NOT work with steam/d2d version of Fallout 3.

[Dragor]

*Raises hand meekly*

Can anyone who owns the game tell me what Melee combat is like? I've seen the Powerfist in action in those gameplay videos and that looks great- but I'd like it from a players P.O.V. While VATS looked great for ranged, I can't imagine how it works for close combat, whether it's a knife or a sledgehammer.

[The Orange Zergling]

VATS doesn't let you aim for specific body parts with melee weapons; just the enemy as a whole. Overall melee combat is kinda dull, you just keep clicking until everything in front of you dies. Although, and I could be wrong about this, it seems that if you hold down the attack button it "charges" your weapon and lets you do a stronger but slower hit... I think.

[chiasaur11]

Played some at a friend's house today.

Even saved the town with the nuke crater in it, and got a house.

Two thoughts:

1) This game is really fun.

2) This game is really bloody.

[Myatar_Panwar]

for people who want to know if they're PC can run stuff use "system requirement labs" - google it. It really does help :smallsmile:



Careful Z! Getting it through steam means no mods!

Has this been confirmed?

[kkortekaas]

I can't seem to get the hang of "hacking"...anyone able to provide any tips for success?

Also, the game is friggen awesome, Bethesda managed to maintain the level of humour from the previous games and that to me, is a huge plus.

[Mr.Bookworm]

I can't seem to get the hang of "hacking"...anyone able to provide any tips for success?

Try it, and once you get down to one attempt, exit the terminal and retry it. The password changes, but this gives you infinite attempts.

It's more of a logic puzzle thing, also.

Say you have:

faust
nukes
bombs
sugar
forks
spork
state
vault
throw
shoot
gully
attic

You enter "faust" first. 0 out of 5 letters match. 3 Attempts left.

You now know that the first letter is not an f, the second letter is not an a, and so on. This eliminates faust, vault, shoot, and forks from the list.

Next you try sugar. 1 out of 5, 2 attempts left. So you know that the first letter might be a s, the second might be a u, and so on. Scan the words to see if any of them have no matches with the word. This leaves you with nukes, spork, state, and gully.

Next, you type in gully. 1 out of five. Now, gully has no corresponding letters with spork and state, thereby leaving you with only nukes, which is the correct password.

Hope that helped.

[Kranden]

Hacking is simple, first click a large random word. if say

HACKER got 1/5 that means one of those works in HACKER is in the right password
so
if
SALES and you get 2/5 you will realize that the only two common words are AE so those two words MUST be in the right password. Then when looking for the password be sure to filter out all the words that aren't AE the real password cant have HCKRSL

simple

[Kranden]

Dammit bookworm your in trouble because my character is one evil MF'er
A group of 3 bounty hunters approached me today with a warrent for my arrest and a 1000 cap bounty. I blew their brains out and sold their clothes. Better watch out man ill cut you!

[RPGuru1331]

Uh, I have a weird problem in Fallout 2. I'm stuck. My ally is blocking a one tile wide exit out of a dead end.

[Driderman]

Uh, I have a weird problem in Fallout 2. I'm stuck. My ally is blocking a one tile wide exit out of a dead end.

This is the Fallout 3 thread. But all the same, just point your cursor at the ally and hold down the right(left maybe?) mouse and choose the push icon

[Tom_Violence]

Can anyone comment comprehensively on the scaling of enemies? Its something I've always hated about Bethesda's games and am very curious to know how its handled in this one.

[Avilan the Grey]

Can anyone comment comprehensively on the scaling of enemies? Its something I've always hated about Bethesda's games and am very curious to know how its handled in this one.

According to Swedish reviews of this game, there is no scaling. There are easy parts, and hard parts, and you might know what is what until you walked into them.

[Mc. Lovin']

Has this been confirmed?

Not confirmed, however this is what has happened with DoW and GTA: SA.


Can anyone comment comprehensively on the scaling of enemies? Its something I've always hated about Bethesda's games and am very curious to know how its handled in this one.

There is scaling, whenever you go to a place the monsters will be apropriate for your level. However, they have changed the mechanic so that once you enter a place the level never changes (for example, if you go to Megaton at level 1, the monsters will remain level 1 challenging no matter what level you are when you go back there. And if you go to ... another place at level 7 the challenge will always be level 7, etc etc)

[kkortekaas]

On the scaling front - Upon exiting the Vault I didn't head directly to Megaton, I hung a left and encountered a group of raiders on an overpass. They beat the crud out of me and I died.

Upon reloading I decided to head to Megaton instead, gained 3ish levels (the Super Duper Mart is fantastic) and then decided to give those Raider a little payback and it was a cakewalk.

[SilverSheriff]

nevermind, I traded it in for the Xbox360 Version.

[Avilan the Grey]

So how far before we get the hints and tips? I bought the game on my lunch break and I am installing it tomorrow. I am looking to play something akin to my Oblivion character, mostly sneaker but not all the way...

[Person_Man]

*Raises hand meekly*

Can anyone who owns the game tell me what Melee combat is like?

Feels a lot like Oblivion. You walk up to people and smack them repeatedly. You can block attacks. You can't target specific body parts. But you almost never miss, and you never use ammo. Plus some enemies are very fast and will attack you at close range, so you should always keep a melee weapon as a backup just in case. 80% of enemies have some sort of ranged weapon though, and there are often terrain features between you and them, so you can't really specialize in just melee. If you do, I suggest that you also invest in sneak and big guns.


Can anyone comment comprehensively on the scaling of enemies? Its something I've always hated about Bethesda's games and am very curious to know how its handled in this one.

When you walk into an area for the first time, enemies will be scaled to your level. But once they are created, they never change. So if they're too hard, leave, gain a few levels somewhere else, and come back. I make a point of saving often though, so if the enemies are too hard, I reload the game and then try again with different tactics. Sniper rifle, stealth, mines, etc. Or you can just reduce the difficulty slider in the options. It lowers the XP that you get. But the game only goes to level 20, so it really doesn't matter how quickly you get there IMO. Alternatively, you can spend the first 10 hours of the game just exploring and walking into places, setting the bar low for your enemies. Some quest specific locations can't be opened until you trigger them, but you'll still have the location marked on your map, which will make traveling there later much quicker.


I also am enjoying Fallout 3, but am being pissed off at land mines blowing my legs off with no warning. Damn things are hard to see...

There's a mid-level perk that allows you to never set off mines. Also, mines are almost always on flat terrain, like roads. Avoid roads and stick to rough terrain.


So how far before we get the hints and tips?

Ask, and you shall receive:

Save often. Sometimes enemies will take you by surprise. Sometimes you'll say something to an NPC and regret it. It always helps to be able to reload.

Dogmeat is in the Junkyard south of the Minefield. I highly suggest you go there early and get him. He's a ridiculously useful ally.

Some quests can only be accomplished with a high level of Science, Lockpick, Repair, or Speech (and rarely Medicine or some other Skill). If you're a completionist, you'll need to max out these Skills at some point.

The damage a weapon deals is based on its condition. So having a high Repair Skill and keeping spares of the weapon on hand so that you can Repair it yourself regularly helps a lot in combat. You can pay merchants to repair for you as well, but only up to a certain %, based on their Skill.

VATS: If the enemy has a body part that other enemies don't have, like antenna or tentacles, that's where you should shoot them. If an enemy is carrying a grenade or missile launcher, shoot their weapon, and it will explode. (You can also shoot these in mid air to avoid being hit). If an enemy has no ranged weapon, shoot their leg, and they'll close in on you much more slowly. Otherwise, aim for the head, unless the hit % is low.

After you fire off one round in VATS, you gun will still be aimed at their specific body part when you finish with slow motion. If you're quick and the enemy is slow or close, you can shoot of more rounds manually and hit them in the same place.

Sometimes you're more successful targeting enemies outside of VATS. In particular, I've found that it's far easier to hit the enemy in the head with the Sniper Rifle manually instead of using VATS.

[late for dinner]

Yeah, so I love this thread. this is the 4th time I have posted on it...I cant express enough on how much I love this game. So quick story and explaination on how I started to think in this game. I am level 10. I started at level 1. I also wanted to be good. So, I walked around and helped people for minimal or no reward to be nice. (I learned that in most games, when you do the right thing, the reward is not big right off the bat, but a little later you will get a huge thing...like a house so you can get haircuts) During my wandering around I came across a little settlement called big town. I helped them get their doctor back and helped them defend the town from super mutants. I then went to megaton and went shopping and disarmed the nuke chilling out in the radioactive water. I then started doing the story to look for my father. After wandering around D.C. I decided that the small population of 6 people have lived a good life in fear. I would be nice and rid them of their fear. So, at night, while they were sleeping I snuck into camp. and introduced the entire population to their maker. I got 400 bottle caps out of it too.:smallbiggrin: I am planning on finding other outposts that dont have much to offer, becoming their hero, making them trust me, and then when they have nothing else to offer, taking their lives. I like megaton though and refuse to betray them...this game makes me laugh. Has anyone picked up that book, "Lying, Congressional Style" ?

[Klaz Eidron]

How kind is the game to pure non-combat characters? I admit I never liked fighting in Fallout 1 and 2, I usually made stealth characters or fast-talkers to solve my troubles with deception or wit instead of violence, and I loved it.

[warty goblin]

I just got Fallout 3 and I've been unable to play it, it just won't start up when I press 'play', instead it starts to play and then cuts short after 3 seconds.:mad: my PC has all of the requirements, any Ideas?

Update your drivers, audio, video, whathaveyou. Then update them again. Then turn off your virus scan, disconnect from the internet, and use the task manager to close all of your rubbish background tasks. Possibly check the config file (assuming there is one), to make sure it has a valid opening resolution/display mode present.

I've had all of these things make a game run when it formerly would not.

[late for dinner]

How kind is the game to pure non-combat characters? I admit I never liked fighting in Fallout 1 and 2, I usually made stealth characters or fast-talkers to solve my troubles with deception or wit instead of violence, and I loved it.

The problem with no fighting is, well, you will be attacked often and running away is harder than it seems. I think the molerats are the biggest waste of ammo in the game. I was seen by 3 of them down in a canyon(I was on the ledge and they were in a canyon) and I decided to just run away. Well, they found a way out of the canyon and I was soon being attacked by them. WHen you are in town you can talk your way out of pretty much anything. But in the wild, you will need a gun because the animals dont speak english and the raiders, robots, and Super Mutants will always try to kill you. If you try to sneak everywhere, you will take forever to get places. Fallout 3 has a big world. Oh and some of the missions require you to fight.

[Person_Man]

How kind is the game to pure non-combat characters? I admit I never liked fighting in Fallout 1 and 2, I usually made stealth characters or fast-talkers to solve my troubles with deception or wit instead of violence, and I loved it.

It's pretty friendly, but it's not possible to play as a pacifist.


There are mandatory boss battles in the main quest.
Certain Skills will allow you to bypass the need for violence in many quests, especially Speech, Lockpick, and Science. But it varies greatly from quest to quest.
Just walking around there will be a lot of animals, raiders, mutants, and zombies. There's a mid level perk that makes animals ignore you, and the second level of the perk makes them come to your aid against non-animals (a rare combination). But for the rest, you only real option is to sneak around them or run away.
The Lady Killer/Black Widow and Child at Heart Perks give you special dialogue options that occasionally let you bypass violence.
Bad Karma quest options often require violence.
Good Karma quests rarely require that you kill anyone. But they often require that you go into very dangerous areas with narrow hallways. So maxed out Sneak would be mandatory.

IMO, if you're very careful, I think its possible to get through the main quest and 90% of the Good Karma quest options with maybe a dozen combats over the course of a very long game. But it would require ridiculous amounts of Sneaking around and patiently waiting for enemies to walk down the hallway as you slip past them in order to get the MacGuffin three levels down. And no matter what you do, there will be some combat. So I think it's pretty much required that you invest in at least 1 combat Skill.

[Brewdude]

Actually, you don't really need to invest in melee or unarmed, because vats always seems to be 94 percent no matter what your skill is with the up close and personal weapons...;(

[Avilan the Grey]

Stuff

Thank you!

[Mc. Lovin']

I just did the deliver a letter quest (wow that took longer than I thought)

Anyone got any good suggestions on where to pick up quests?

[Erloas]

I just got Fallout 3 and I've been unable to play it, it just won't start up when I press 'play', instead it starts to play and then cuts short after 3 seconds.:mad: my PC has all of the requirements, any Ideas?

Seeing as it is using the same Gamebyro (something like that) engine that WAR uses I'm going to assume it is probably a similiar problem and solution to the problems there. It had to do mostly with video drivers, ATI more so then Nvidia but both to some extent. For some people changing the audio drivers either to or off of "full acceleration" fixed the problem. What fixed the problem for me was disabling Advanced AI in the Catalyst Control Center for my ATI card.

[Keris]

Well I turned 18 today, and picked up my Limited Edition Fallout 3 (Xbox). And I won't be going on it till tomorrow due to an... odd little problem.
See, I didn't get the Art book in my lunchbox. I got a second copy of the game. Which leaves me with a dilemma. Do I complain to the store, and have them take away my bonus copy, or flog it and go without the Art book. Decisions, decisions....

[Mc. Lovin']

fgfgdfbkhds how do you get rid of the fire ants?

Some kid came up to give me a mission about getting rid of some fire kids after they killed his dad, but I've been wandering around in the subways for about an hour and I don't have a clue ;___;

[Myatar_Panwar]

I just did the deliver a letter quest (wow that took longer than I thought)

Anyone got any good suggestions on where to pick up quests?

Well there are quite a few in Megaton. The one for the general shop owner (I forget her name) which involves helping her gather information for a book, is very long.

[Carrion_Humanoid]

Hacking is simple, first click a large random word. if say

HACKER got 1/5 that means one of those works in HACKER is in the right password
so
if
SALES and you get 2/5 you will realize that the only two common words are AE so those two words MUST be in the right password. Then when looking for the password be sure to filter out all the words that aren't AE the real password cant have HCKRSL

simple
*Breaks through ceiling*

Hacker has 6 letters, just saying.

[Poison_Fish]

fgfgdfbkhds how do you get rid of the fire ants?

Some kid came up to give me a mission about getting rid of some fire kids after they killed his dad, but I've been wandering around in the subways for about an hour and I don't have a clue ;___;

Try to find the science dude in one of the passageways all the way in the southern(I think) section of the subway.

[SilverSheriff]

nevermind, I traded it in for the Xbox360 Version, Its been good so far, but I'm starting to miss the sound of Liam Neeson's voice...

[Dragor]

Well, played it until five in the morning with a friend. I made a character who looked almost identical to Chris Evans: http://www.caterersearch.com/blogs/catering-news-blog/chris%20evans.jpg

This is fun. Very fun. I just love going into the wastes and finding places and exploring them. That's where the real fun is, I reckon. I played a Scientist type character, so I was going around in the lab coat with Burke's glasses.

I think it's a worthy successor to the original games. It maintains its humour, amusing dialogue options, music and just altogether pizazz which the first two games had that I do feel it's Fallout. VATS is a nice system, also. I'm a bit saddened by how Melee Combat isn't very fun. Surely they could've added individual targeting for it? It would've been fun to do a baseball bat swing to the Overseer's groin. BONK!

I'm impressed, though. I just reached GNR and talked to Three Dog (Owwwoooooo!), nice guy.

[Mc. Lovin']

Try to find the science dude in one of the passageways all the way in the southern(I think) section of the subway.

Thank you good sir. Think of me in your time of need and I will come to your side.

[Bouregard]

Collectors Edition right next to my deks. no i have to wait 2 more days till my new PC arrives. Yes my old would handle it. But not on highest. So 2 days to go arghhh.

[warty goblin]

Collectors Edition right next to my deks. no i have to wait 2 more days till my new PC arrives. Yes my old would handle it. But not on highest. So 2 days to go arghhh.

So? Just toss that bad boy in the drive, play it for a while at low graphics. Then when the new box arrives, swap over the save files and be blown away by the fantastic new vistas of destruction before you.

Don't do it for you, do it for all of us not yet able to afford the damn thing.

[Mc. Lovin']

*MAN* were those ants a bitch. I had to whack the last one to death with a wrench, while being drenched in fire ... the reward better be good (although by the sounds of it it's going to be a stupid coat)

Where can one find an armoury? The one in Megaton is always shut for some reason.

[chiasaur11]

*MAN* were those ants a bitch. I had to whack the last one to death with a wrench, while being drenched in fire ... the reward better be good (although by the sounds of it it's going to be a stupid coat)

Where can one find an armoury? The one in Megaton is always shut for some reason.

Well, if you get the food finding survival guide mission in Megaton, you can get some good guns from the food place you visit. Hunting rifle, lasers, grenades, a mini nuke...

Well worth the trouble even aside from the food and medicine.

[gardenphilosoph]

I love this game.

My first character idea was something akin to a 'Vampire of the Wastes', a mutilated/mutant-ish cannibal evil stealthy rogue-type. Unfortunately that was without any former knowledge of the game or Fallout...suffice to say, that concept didn't really work. I just ended up with freakishly pale mean stealthy guy. Still an amazing game, though. But at level 6 I started another character concept...

The neutral drifter-type gunslinger-ish survival man. He's going well. His face looks awesome and he has awesome sideburns but he wears a gas mask most of the time so you can't see it. I think I wasted the Gunslinger perk, though. I don't the the 10mm SMG is affected by it, sadly. Anyways, I put all his points in luck. He also has some fire ant DNA in him as a Perk. Gun Nut and Scoundrel perks for him.

I love how you can get perks as rewards for options. I've gotten 3 perks like that already, and they are supreme.

I dislike how the 'evil' options are usually rude and mean, not actually evil. That's a problem with most 'good' or 'evil' games though, since it's so relative. Blegh.

Also, children are invincible. Saw that coming.

It has a lot of correlations to Oblivion, but I think it's different and enjoyable enough to be more than just Oblivion with guns. It looks as if Bethesda took everything that was wrong with Oblivion, fixed it, and set it in the Fallout universe.

[Phase]

Okay, I'm seriously debating gettting this game. I have a bit of extra money lying about, but I'm not sure I would like it...

Pros:
Seems very expansive, would help overcome my current gaming ennui
Looks hella fun, interactions with people are sorely missed in most games
Premise seems very cool
Good reviews

Cons:
Feel as though it would take a lot of my time (in a bad way)
Very violent and gory, I've never let being under 17 stop me from getting an M game before, but this is definatly not a turn-on
Not sure if it would be a waste of money compared to the one or so days a week I could properly play it

Any suggestions that could sway me one way or the other?

[gardenphilosoph]

Get it. You only live once, and if you're curious, you should indulge yourself.

Or rent it, if you're really on the brink. Then see if you'd like it or not.

[The Orange Zergling]

I'd very much recommend it. I can't say if it's "Fallout-y" (havent played 1 or 2) but it's still a wonderfully done game.

[Phase]

What's this doing under Cons? :smalltongue:

I'd very much recommend it. I can't say if it's "Fallout-y" (havent played 1 or 2) but it's still a wonderfully done game.

I don't like excessive blood in games. I don't mind cutting zombies in Half-life, but I don't know whether I would enjoy people's heads coming off frm too much shooting. I'm not squemish, but...

I also never played the first two, so I really don't mind "Fallout-y" ness.

[The Orange Zergling]

Eh, whatever floats your boat. I don't need a game to be gory, quite a few would even be ruined by gore. I just think it really fits the setting and general atmosphere. Also it makes some kills very satisfying.

[Phase]

Eh, whatever floats your boat. I don't need a game to be gory, quite a few would even be ruined by gore. I just think it really fits the setting and general atmosphere. Also it makes some kills very satisfying.

The more satisfying a kill, the more often I do it. Just a few questions that I need answered:

1. Is the humour good? I like funny games.
2. How good is the justified tutorial I've heard about?
3. Is it hard to keep yourself alive, survival, hunger, and radiation wise?

[Mc. Lovin']

There are some jokes but only sometimes, this is supposed to be a serious game.

In fights you'll need health stuff, but i've never gotten hungry / got radiation poisoning.

The tutorial is good.

[SmartAlec]

The worst of the gore is generally reserved for those characters with the Bloody Mess perk, a character perk that signifies a character around whom people tend to die in exceptionally brutal ways as if he or she was some walking piece of bad luck (it also gives a +5 damage bonus with weapons), but that perk is by no means vital or necessary.

[Phase]

Thanks, I think I'll get it, it sounds really good!

Now if I could just collect that debt...

[Myatar_Panwar]

I found this really funny (spoilered for huge): http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/131/screenshot1vv2.png (http://img505.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshot1vv2.png)
http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/232/screenshot2td4.png (http://img505.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshot2td4.png)

A good example of humor in this game.

[Twin2]

There are some jokes but only sometimes, this is supposed to be a serious game.

I'd say there are plenty of funny moments in the game, some just need to be looked for a bit harder then others, and others....well lets just say

reading about a giant robot shouting out engaging communists, and other quips while firing lasers just doesn't do it justice

[Mr.Bookworm]

The more satisfying a kill, the more often I do it. Just a few questions that I need answered:

1. Is the humour good? I like funny games.
2. How good is the justified tutorial I've heard about?
3. Is it hard to keep yourself alive, survival, hunger, and radiation wise?

1. It's pretty funny in some parts, though most of the humor is black in nature. And of course, a lot of it ranges from post-apocalyptic seriousness to GRIMDARK territory. But there is a lot of humor.

2. Pretty darn good, actually. They do a really good job of showing you Vault life, and working the chargen into growing up. It's one of the tutorials I've actually replayed several times to see how many different ways you can do it. (There's quite a few) Also, the game automatically saves right before you exit the Vault, and you can change everything around, so you never have to do the tutorial again, if you don't want to.

3. It depends. If you're well prepared, smart, and cautious, you probably won't have too much trouble. Radiation is usually just a nuisance, but it can be pretty bad if you're not careful. Always carry some Radaway.

[Phase]

1. It's pretty funny in some parts, though most of the humor is black in nature. And of course, a lot of it ranges from post-apocalyptic seriousness to GRIMDARK territory. But there is a lot of humor.

2. Pretty darn good, actually. They do a really good job of showing you Vault life, and working the chargen into growing up. It's one of the tutorials I've actually replayed several times to see how many different ways you can do it. (There's quite a few) Also, the game automatically saves right before you exit the Vault, and you can change everything around, so you never have to do the tutorial again, if you don't want to.

3. It depends. If you're well prepared, smart, and cautious, you probably won't have too much trouble. Radiation is usually just a nuisance, but it can be pretty bad if you're not careful. Always carry some Radaway.

1. Nice! I like dark humour.

2. Justified tutorials are my favorite part of a well done game.

3. Radaway it is! :smallwink:

[Mc. Lovin']

Sorry to cry for help again, but what's the point in a fallout thread if I can't milk it for all it's worth?

I'm doing that book ...
and I'm on the last chapter, trying to find out about rivet city. I must have asked everyone in the half of the boat I can get into, but the door to ther other side is locked. I'm sure that is where I need to go, but how on earth do I get in there?

[Shikton]

Sorry to cry for help again, but what's the point in a fallout thread if I can't milk it for all it's worth?

I'm doing that book ...
and I'm on the last chapter, trying to find out about rivet city. I must have asked everyone in the half of the boat I can get into, but the door to ther other side is locked. I'm sure that is where I need to go, but how on earth do I get in there?

You need to pump up your lockpicking skill, or see if you can find some better lockpicks. I don't know where you'd find any though, as I skipped that part of the quest and just gave the story I already had from Bannon to Moire.

[Phase]

Okay, I just need to wait for my mom to get home with access to my bank account, and then I can play! Thank you, Steam. Now to figure out what sort of character I want...

Thanks for your help, guys.

EDIT: It's installing!

EDITEDIT: It's done! Fallout 3, here I come!

[Mc. Lovin']

Back again! Just a quick question about the main story quest
Is there any way to save Garza? I have 4 stimpacks, but he doesn't want to hear anything about it

[Semidi]

Back again! Just a quick question about the main story quest
Is there any way to save Garza? I have 4 stimpacks, but he doesn't want to hear anything about it

You need 5. Or if you have speech, you can convince him to take buffout.

Anyway, I've just finished the game last night. Here are my thoughts:

Pros:

HUGE landscape that's incredibly detailed. You really get the sense that a lot of the ruined houses and such were put together with care.

Combat is fun; VATS is satisfying.
Really "feels" post-apocalyptic, even more than the previous Fallout games in some ways. For instance, just about everything gives off radiation.

Funny. Barrier detected. Percent chance of mission failure... 0%!!! *crunch*

There's a lot of stuff to do and places to visit. The main story doesn't even take you to half the places you should visit (like the Republic of Dave).

Exploring is loads of fun.

Cons:

For some reason Beth decided to make Power Armor awful. There's a better unique combat armor that you can easily find than most power armors in the game.

The Reilly's Rangers armor is the better combat armor. Normal Brotherhood Armor is 40 Defense +2 STR -2 AGL -10% radiation. Normal Enclave armor is (I think) 40 defense +1 STR -1 AGL - 10% radiation. Tesla armor is a bit better, and there's a another unique power armor that is awesome. However, it's nothing compared to the awesome that was Fallout 1-2 power armor (Fallout 1-2 power armor: "your pathetic minigun bullets are useless against me MUHAHA".

Main story is amazing, but it's also feels dreadfully short.

A little bit too many supplies; it was unusual for me to have less than 30 stimpacks and less than 400 ammo in at least one of my guns. (I played on normal) I didn't feel like I had be at all careful with my ammo.

I didn't like all the obstruction in the DC area ruins. It made getting around a bit of a chore. It also made the place feel not quite so big since it felt like each of the sections was a little level unto itself.

The ending sequence wasn't Fallout-ey.

It was crashtastic. I only stopped playing because I wanted to about 4 times. The other times it crashed. I was tempted to put this as under pro because it was the only way I got any sleep.

Edit: OH yeah! Forgot some things I didn't like...

About half the stats and most of the perks are useless or almost useless. I'll post my feelings on them later.

Conclusion:

It was a good/great game. I'll decide if it was great by the number of times I replay it. I'm going to take a bit of a break from it now and get stuff dune, but I totally want to replay it as a completely different character. I did have some problems with it, but I'm not at all disappointed. I think it was a worthy successor to the original Fallout games, and I also think it improved on just about everything Oblivion was.

[Neon Knight]

Where on god's good irradiated green earth is The Family? I can't find the blighters anywhere.

[Phase]

Dmn game crashes when I try to start a new game...

Blargh! Drivers, I guess...

[Khalle]

Where on god's good irradiated green earth is The Family? I can't find the blighters anywhere.


I found it through a train station NW of Megaton, forget the name but it starts with an M, Meresti or something. Go down and follow the tracks.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Where on god's good irradiated green earth is The Family? I can't find the blighters anywhere.


When you travel to the little supermarket he mentions, there should be a subway entrance. You go down there, go in the ghoul room, and enter via the high radiation closet space.

And can we please label our spoilers? Some of you are fine but many times it really is a gamble to click on anything.

[Mc. Lovin']

On that thing what I was on about ...
*FIVE?* I guess I'll have to defeat everyone, go buy a stimpack and come back. Is there really any benefit saving him? I have a 100% chance to convince them that he can just die there, and I dont loose any karma for it

[Semidi]

On that thing what I was on about ...
*FIVE?* I guess I'll have to defeat everyone, go buy a stimpack and come back. Is there really any benefit saving him? I have a 100% chance to convince them that he can just die there, and I dont loose any karma for it

In response:
I don't think so, after this point in the game, you don't really need to talk to Doctor Lee (is that her name?) anymore. I'd say search the area really well for stimpacks, and if that fails then just ditch the guy and make up the karma helping old ladies cross the street.

[Phase]

Okay, I can't seem to get past the "New Game" option. Does anyone have any idea how to fix this?

[Myatar_Panwar]

Okay, I can't seem to get past the "New Game" option. Does anyone have any idea how to fix this?

You got this off of steam? I dunno, I didn't have this problem when I did it. Maybe try re-installing?

[Phase]

You got this off of steam? I dunno, I didn't have this problem when I did it. Maybe try re-installing?

That took a long time. It will have to be my last resort.

EDIT: Maybe it's the realtek drivers...
EDITEDIT: Nope
EDITEDITEDIT: Direct X?
EDITx4: Nope

[Driderman]

Concerning access to the Broken Bov part of Rivet city:

There's a second door that isn't locked, in the water area between the two parts of the ship. There's a lot of rubbish and mirelurks down there so be sure to save

Also, a question slightly relating to the early parts of the main quest:
After getting to GNR plaza the Brotherhood knights are taking about the citadel. Now I'm about level 14 and I STILL haven't found said citadel or any mention of it anywhere. Does anyone know where it is?

[Alex Knight]

Concerning access to the Broken Bov part of Rivet city:
Also, a question slightly relating to the early parts of the main quest:
After getting to GNR plaza the Brotherhood knights are taking about the citadel. Now I'm about level 14 and I STILL haven't found said citadel or any mention of it anywhere. Does anyone know where it is?


It's the Pentagon. Don't worry about it. A later part of the main story quest will have you escorting someone directly to the Citadel.

[Mc. Lovin']

Okay, I can't seem to get past the "New Game" option. Does anyone have any idea how to fix this?

What OS do you have?
Have you tried right click -> Validate game files?

Im searching for stuff on the steam forums about it, but search is a bitch on forums.

[Phase]

What OS do you have?
Have you tried right click -> Validate game files?

Im searching for stuff on the steam forums about it, but search is a bitch on forums.

I'm trying to validate. I wouldn't mind this so much if I didn't have these sorts of problems for literally EVERY GAME I GET. It usually involves the updating of drivers, some back and forth with the company, then some new hardware. I'm really pissed.

EDIT: Everything is validated, seems fine. Still doesn't work. Got farther, though...

[Mc. Lovin']

right click -> start as administrator?

[Phase]

right click -> start as administrator?

Tried that, no effect.

Shame, I actually wanted to play this game. I keep trying, on the off chance it will work.

EDIT: Trying a new driver...
EDITEDIT: Dammit!
EDIT again: I've uninstalled it. I'll re-install it later to see if it helps.

[Twin2]

Just managed to baseball throw a grenade at a raider knocking their rifle out of their hands just before exploding to kill them. God I love this game.

[Phase]

Don't rub it in!

Does anyone know how to up Processing power by 0.4 ghz?

[Avilan the Grey]

Okay, playing slowly, since my wife insists that I should try to have "a life". :smalltongue:

I also play like I played Oblivion, but with Guns. I sneak almost everywhere, so I move more slowly than most, probably. Especially since I have Always Run turned off.
Slow, steady, stalking...

I am almost done with the Fire ant quest...

This is what I have learned so far:

1. Apparently store inventories are random. I restarted once, to get a slightly more optimized character for my playing style, and this time I could not get my hands on any 5.56mm ammo at all! Leaving town for 24 hours and coming back, however, suddenly made about 30 bullets available.

2. If you are using VATS, you can tell when you get a good hit because it will zoom in much more dramatically.

3. Encounters are random to a degree. This time reaching the parking lot of one of the first quest locations there was a fight between two groups of raiders in the parking lot. They went all out, throwing grenades and everything! (So this answers the "What are the loud booms I am hearing" question).
The AI has it limitations, obviously, because they were so busy killing each other that I could pick off all but two without being attacked.

4. Using VATS, at least on mostly unarmored opponents, shoot the body part that is easiest to hit in the following order (if there is only say 5% difference, pick the better target):

A) Head. Always good, and as far as i understand it, if you "cripple" the head without killing the enemy, their accuracy is severely limited (they are almost blind)

B) Right arm. If a limb is shot off, it will be an instant kill, it does not have to be the head. The right arm, if hurt enough, will also cause the target to drop the weapon, giving you a few seconds to re-aim.

C) A leg. Slows them down, and again, if you blow it off, they die.

D) Left arm. See above, but no other benefits, they can still run, and shoot.

E) Torso. This is almost always easiest to hit (Duh) but also always has the most hit points and almost always the best armor. Try to shoot something else.
Fire ant WORKERS are weak enough that with the Chinese assault rifle, if you succeed with a sneak attack, they will die from a hit in their torso. Worth the shot since it's almost always 90-95% to hit

5. I need a mule. Now. Admittedly I lowered my Strength to 4 since I will never use melee unless I have to, but soo many nice things to sell... Or kill with...

...Okay, that's about it for now.

[Cheesegear]

Does anyone else turn on the Enclave Radio Station just so they can hear Malcolm McDowell (John Eden)? Best. Voice. Ever.

[Mr.Bookworm]

3. Encounters are random to a degree. This time reaching the parking lot of one of the first quest locations there was a fight between two groups of raiders in the parking lot. They went all out, throwing grenades and everything! (So this answers the "What are the loud booms I am hearing" question).
The AI has it limitations, obviously, because they were so busy killing each other that I could pick off all but two without being attacked.

4. Using VATS, at least on mostly unarmored opponents, shoot the body part that is easiest to hit in the following order (if there is only say 5% difference, pick the better target):

A) Head. Always good, and as far as i understand it, if you "cripple" the head without killing the enemy, their accuracy is severely limited (they are almost blind)

5. I need a mule. Now. Admittedly I lowered my Strength to 4 since I will never use melee unless I have to, but soo many nice things to sell... Or kill with...

...Okay, that's about it for now.

3. I admit to having the guide, and it has a long list of random encounters near the back. About 30 of them are unique, and there's another ~70 that aren't.

4. When you shoot someone in the head, it also automatically deals double damage. Which is really good.

5. Grab a companion. There are seven of them, not counting Dogmeat. They can carry stuff for you.

[Person_Man]

Walkthrough of the Megaton book quest the "Wasteland Survival Guide" - as well as "The Replicated Man" - I highly suggest that you do these quests early, as they give you excellent equipment and Perks. And always go for the optional objective. You get more stuff, sometimes dramatically so.


1) Contract Radiation Sickness: Go to the bomb in the middle of town. Drink the water until you get 600 rads of radiation.

2) Find food at the Super Duper Mart: The market is east of Megaton, and filled with Raiders, including a few outside the building. While inside if the raiders ever swarm on you, just run outside, heal (or return to Megaton and sleep in your house), and return. If you can sneak back and activate use the terminal to activate the protectron robot, he'll provide an excellent meat shield for you and will kill several raiders on his own. Be sure to take the employee tag (on top of the terminal) so that it won't attack you. Search everybody and everything.

3) Traversing a Mine Field: If you're Evil, before you do this quest listen to Galaxy Radio to hear about Paradise Falls, the slaver hub. Go there to get a quest to kill the guy who is in the middle of the mine field. Avoid the road (where most of the mines are) and cars (which will explode). I suggest that you wait until dark and try to sneak as close as you can. Kill Arkansas and take his stuff. In particular, this was the ONLY sniper rifle I was able to find for more then 10 levels, and the sniper rifle is ridiculously useful. If you don't have at least 25 ranks in Explosives, you'll need to find or buy a mine in order to succeed on the optional part of the quest. But trust me, you want 25 ranks in Explosives.

4) Test the repellent on mole rats: Once you get this quest, you can go do other quests. You'll encounter tons of Mole Rats in your travels. If you want to burn through this quest quickly though, go to the Tepid Sewers on the map and clean them out until you've killed 7 or more rats.

5) Place an observer unit inside a Mirelurk nest: The optional part of this quest (plant the observer without killing anything) can be hard. You can either use Sneak carefully, have a ton of stimpaks, or cheat. Cheating is obviously the simplest route. Save the game before you get the quest from Moira. Get the quest, which will show you where the Anchorage War Memorial is. Reload your saved game. Go there and kill everything inside. Then go back to Moira and get the quest. Return, place the observer, and you're set. If you're playing it strait, you can usually pull it off by just running strait back to the office door. In the office is a hole that leads to the Mirelurk breeding grounds below, filled with radiated water. Just as you run into Mirelurks, there will be an egg pile directly on your right. Plant the observer and run back.

6) Injure yourself for more than 50% of your Health: Go to the Minefield. Walk on a mine. This should injure you below 50% and cripple at least one leg without killing you. Be sure to check your Pip Boy to make confirm that you're crippled. Then fast travel back.

7) Research Rivet City's History (and the Replicated Man): After getting this quest from Moira, go to the Rivet City lab and talk to Dr. Zimmer. He'll give you a quest to find his missing android. You'll also need to talk to others in the lab as part of the main quest too. Then go to the Rivet City market and talk everyone there. They'll tell you that Pinkerton, who is living on the other half of the broken carrier. You can leave the city, go to the Jefferson Memorial, and then walk to Rivet City - you'll find a walkway that leads to a locked door, which requires 100 Lockpick to open. Or you can just use the stairs by the main entrance to walk up to the deck and then to the unblocked edge. SAVE THE GAME, then drop down (you may die, which is why you saved). Under the water is a door. Go through the door and follow the heavily trapped hallway to Dr. Zimmer. Talk through all of his dialogue options. He'll tell you the real history of Rivet City, and give you proof. He'll also tell you that the android is Harkness, the sheriff of Rivet City. Be sure to get the command code to unlock Harkness' memories. Then download the files from Zimmer's computer (he'll give you the password). Go find Harkness - he walks around the entire ship, but can usually be found somewhere near security quarters on the bridge/observation deck. Be nice to him, and tell him that you'll kill Zimmer. This will give you a really excellent custom energy rifle, and permission to kill Zimmer and his body guard. Then go to Zimmer, take Zimmer's side and tell him who the android really is. This causes Evil karma. But Zimmer will give you an excellent combat upgrade. Immediately after you close the dialogue, shoot Zimmer's bodyguard in the head, and then Zimmer, so that he doesn't bug Harkness. Then return to Moira and give her the real history of the city.

8) RobCo Production Facility Mainframe: Do not do this mission until you have a Science of at least 50. Otherwise, be prepared to kill a few dozen well armed robots, and to fail the optional objective. If you do have sufficient Science, it's easy. Explore the building, killing some weak animals, until you find the mainframe. Use the widget to activate it, and then quickly reprogram it to make the robots non-hostile to you.

9) Arlington Public Library: Go to the library. When you walk in, you'll find some brotherhood people, who will give you another optional quest to collect pre-war books. Explore the library, working with the brotherhood to kill the raiders. Pick up any pre-war books you find, and use every terminal you see to download the information you need for Moira's quest.

If you completed every optional quest option, +6% to Poison & Radiation plus a minor skill, resistance, or hit point bump that depends on the answers you gave. Alternatively, before completing all of the quests you can be Evil and try to use Speech to convince her not to complete the book. This will give you a perk that reduces enemies' crit chances against you by 50%.

[ufo]

haii huyz

Considering putting this on my wishlist for Christmas, but I gotta know one thing first:

Is it possible to turn down the gore? I've seen the videoes, and it looks awesome, but I think all that splatter when you shoot someone in the head using V.A.T.S. is a bit uncalled for.

[Archonic Energy]

Don't rub it in!

Does anyone know how to up Processing power by 0.4 ghz?

that's not rubbing it in, rubbing it in would be saying something like
"try clicking the new game button" :smalltongue:

[Person_Man]

haii huyz

Considering putting this on my wishlist for Christmas, but I gotta know one thing first:

Is it possible to turn down the gore? I've seen the videoes, and it looks awesome, but I think all that splatter when you shoot someone in the head using V.A.T.S. is a bit uncalled for.

Not on the Xbox 360 version. If you're gore averse, this is not the game for you (or your kid). Maybe the PC version is different.

I'm very pro-gore. But it would have been nice for them to include a gore adjusting slider and/or parent code lockout. How much extra work would it have taken to code an option that just has enemies fall down, rather then having slow motion decapitation?

[The Orange Zergling]

I have yet to find a Gore-meter on the PC version as well. Unless you count the Bloody Mess perk which would actually ramp up the gore (but it's so unrealistic at that point it's funny, you can shoot people in the head and their arms and legs fly half way across the room). This is easily the most bloody game I've ever seen. It's still really, really, really fun, though.

[Job]

A little bit too many supplies; it was unusual for me to have less than 30 stimpacks and less than 400 ammo in at least one of my guns. (I played on normal) I didn't feel like I had be at all careful with my ammo.

May I ask what difficulty you played on?

After I got out of the vault is set the difficulty to very easy for the Rivet City run (oh the memories) but moved up to very hard when I got back to Megaton.

Now I'll often find myself dreading random encounters (notably dogs). Sure I can survive them, but I'm down 30 10mm and at 50% with a crippled leg.

[TwoBitWriter]

I stopped posting in this thread the day the game came out because I couldn't afford to purchase it for my 360...

Until Saturday.

I can say that I was definitely not disappointed. The game is certainly much much more than "Oblivion with Guns."

I can't really say anymore than what has already been said in favor of the game, but its gonna suck up many many hours of my life and probably alienate my wife. :smallbiggrin:

[kc0bbq]

Sorry to cry for help again, but what's the point in a fallout thread if I can't milk it for all it's worth?

I'm doing that book ...
and I'm on the last chapter, trying to find out about rivet city. I must have asked everyone in the half of the boat I can get into, but the door to ther other side is locked. I'm sure that is where I need to go, but how on earth do I get in there?
I know at least one NPC The one from The Railroad if you choose to let the humanoid android live in peace gives you a clue on how to get in there.

You need to get in there for a couple reasons, and make sure you're quick on the clicking, there's some nice stuff in there but just about everything is a boobytrap.

Here's the deal if you don't get the clue:
Swim to the gap between the two pieces of the ship. Watch your radiation, you swim for a while so even at +1 or +2/second it adds up fast. In the bow portion there's a tunnel that extends out from the hull, it's in the are where there are no rocks. Swim down to it and keep following paths that slowly get higher and higher out of the water. Eventually you'll get to dry ground.

Pinkerton's in there, if you're doing the extended portion of the Rivet City history chain he's hiding in there. There's a switch to unlock the door so you don't have to swim to get in again later. Pinkerton shouldn't be too tough to find, but most obvious choices are always boobytraps.

[Mc. Lovin']

Don't rub it in!

Does anyone know how to up Processing power by 0.4 ghz?

Sorry ... I guess you should ask the steam forums (www.steampowered.com)

[Semidi]

May I ask what difficulty you played on?

After I got out of the vault is set the difficulty to very easy for the Rivet City run (oh the memories) but moved up to very hard when I got back to Megaton.

Now I'll often find myself dreading random encounters (notably dogs). Sure I can survive them, but I'm down 30 10mm and at 50% with a crippled leg.

I'm playing on normal (which I mentioned in my post you quoted). I'll probably play it on hard when I next go through it as a complete bastard.

[Mc. Lovin']

Power Armour
I just got the powere armour training done, but where can I find somewhere that sells the armour? I cannot exactly kill a paladin to get it.

[late for dinner]

So I got the schematics for the rock-it launcher and built it. (if you havent made this weapon yet, I highly recomend it because decapitating someone with a toy car that you found on the ground never gets old.) I just got the layouts for the shishkebob. Is it worth building?? Oh and for all of you that want an easy way to get money, Sell your lazer ammo...well as long as you dont use lazer weapons, you get 1-2 bottlecaps per charge at most stores and that adds up really fast...and, if you do the radiation sickness mission and go all out and really hurt yourself in radiation damage you get an incredible perk that grows your limbs back...like a lizard. I walk around now purposly with advanced radiation sickness.

[TwoBitWriter]

I was curious about the Rock-It Launcher. Does it do decent damage? Is it dependent on the object loaded?

[Semidi]

Power Armour
I just got the powere armour training done, but where can I find somewhere that sells the armour? I cannot exactly kill a paladin to get it.

Option 1:
Walk around until you get ambushed by Enclave--it will happen soon. They have the best non-unique power armor (Tesla Armor).

Option 2: The Brotherhood has a power armor sitting in the smithy on the lab level. No karma loss for taking it.

Option 3: The quartermaster at the brotherhood sells power armor.

Option 4: Go to Washington DC by the capital building. There are loads of dead brotherhood initiates there with power armor on their corpses.

Option 5: Don't bother with power armor. It's not that great.

Unrelated tip while I'm thinking of it:

Pick up all ammo. It doesn't have any weight so it's the equivalent of caps. So if you find 50 energy cells let's say, that translates into 50 caps.

[Mc. Lovin']

Hey, thanks for the help! You're some kinda Fallout genious =D

[TwoBitWriter]

Pick up all ammo. It doesn't have any weight so it's the equivalent of caps. So if you find 50 energy cells let's say, that translates into 50 caps.

I try to avoid selling ammo unless I really need to. You never know when it will come in handy.

[late for dinner]

I was curious about the Rock-It Launcher. Does it do decent damage? Is it dependent on the object loaded?

I found that if you find somthing a little heavier, like a baseball or a pool ball, it looks like it does more damage than a teddy bear. also, a lawnmower blade is great amunition. overall everything does about the same damage. the nice thing about it is that you can use it to hold things...you have to shoot them at something...but all your misc. items go right in and subtract weight from your load. The reason I like it so much is because you have ammo for it laying around everywhere. cans, cups, plates, cuttingboards, wrenches, hammers, toy cars, nuka cola trucks, teddybears, poolballs, baseballs, cameras, gloves, forks, spoons...well you get the picture. Books are a great projectile as well as that pre-war money. Over all, the weapon is totally worth the 1115 bottle caps you pay for it. It's more humorous than anything....oh and take as many drugs as possible. you get addicted. I purposly became an alcoholic and a jet junkie, but later accidently became addicted to med-x and pills...it adds to the role playing fun of searching out drugs and medicine to feed your habbit.

[TwoBitWriter]

Wait, it just launches random inventory items? You don't have to load it first?

[Person_Man]

Where is The Family for the "Blood Ties" mission:

Go to Arefu which will be marked on your map. The sheriff will give you three suggestions of where they might be. Go to Northwest Seneca Station. There will be some ghouls there who will offer you an Evil quest. (If you're Evil, stop at the other two locations suggested by the sheriff first. They'll be filled with sugar bombs, which you need for their quest). In their back room with some vats of toxic waste is a man hole. This will take you to some tunnels, which are filled with traps. Follow them all the way, and eventually you'll find a sentry who is easy to bribe or use Speech to get past. Beyond him is another tunnel which will eventually get you to The Family. There are a bunch of ways to resolve it. If you're diplomatic about it and get their leader Vance to protect Arefu, be sure to go there to tell them about it and then return to Vance for a useful schematic and Perk.

What's the deal with Power Armor?

The only way you can get Power Armor Training is by following the main quest. If you do, about 2/3 of the way through you get it from the Brotherhood. It's a huge waste though, since most of the Power Armor you'll have access to gives you a stat penalty or is only marginally better then combat armor.

[Job]

I'm playing on normal (which I mentioned in my post you quoted).

oh wow, yeah, my ability to miss the obvious is boundless. That's what I get for having 8 wis I suppose.

Sorry bout that. :smallbiggrin:

[Bouregard]

Wohoo Today finaly my new computer is fully functional. Installed Fallout 3 and goddammit love it. Awesome graphics, cool beginning, its nice to pack the whole create-your-char into the story. Finaly I grow up no. Full details, constant 60fps no CTD. And the VATS-ystem looks pretty promising. It was the one thing I truly hate from oblivion. Maybe one of the best rpg's in the last few years. Can't wait for tomorow *sniff* stupid work, want to play.

[Myatar_Panwar]

A few really awesome things I've found in Fallout 3:

5. Fawkes
A giant friendly mutant with an anger problem. This post apocalyptic Hulk also comes with a Gatling Laser! Which never runs out!
4. Mr. Burke
Rich, elegant, and evil. Also voiced by that same guy who did Lucien Lachance in Oblivion, I'm pretty certain. Awesome villain.
3. The Dart Gun
Just cool. Love watching enemies crippled by it hobble after you. Great for deathclaws.
2. Megaton
The moral decision to blow it up or not, the residents, and just the overall feel of the town makes it one of my favorite quest hubs in any game ever.
1. The Shiskebab
A sword is cool enough. But a sword on fire!? Nough' said.

Edit: Regarding the Rock-It launcher: You do reload it. When you hit "R" (or whatever the reload button is for your system), you are sent to a screen which allows you to place misc items into your launcher. So you arn't accidentally firing off items you need for construction if you dont want to.

[Dragor]

Regarding Megaton:

I made the decision to rat on Burke to the Sheriff early. My heart wrenched when I met his son afterwards. The only consolation I had was Burke's awesome glasses.

[Driderman]

Comcerning Power Armor acquisition, minor early main quest and Megaton reward spoiler:

I just picked up a suit from one of the fallen knights at the GNR Plaza when the Behemoth attacks and put it in my locker back at my house in Megaton. I assume I'll learn to wear it at some point, but my current armor is pretty awesome too

[Neo]

Did anyone notice the Interplay logo in the middle of Megaton?

[Phase]

I got it working! I just needed to uninstall Gamer OSD! *Boogies*

I'll be joining you in an hour or so!

[chiasaur11]

Regarding Megaton:

I made the decision to rat on Burke to the Sheriff early. My heart wrenched when I met his son afterwards. The only consolation I had was Burke's awesome glasses.

I just deactivated the bomb. Saves everybody a lot of trouble, and doesn't get you nearly as many people wanting to kill you. I hope.

[Dragor]

In response to Chiasaur11:

I didn't have the explosives skill, and I was sitting there going "Well what harm could it do?" Foolish, foolish me. And there's a lot more drama that way, anyway.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Regarding Megaton:

I made the decision to rat on Burke to the Sheriff early. My heart wrenched when I met his son afterwards. The only consolation I had was Burke's awesome glasses.

If your fast enough, you can save the sheriff. I got lucky (which comes with having a luck of 10), and scored a crit on his head right as I started to see him pull out his silenced pistol.

[chiasaur11]

In response to Chiasaur11:

I didn't have the explosives skill, and I was sitting there going "Well what harm could it do?" Foolish, foolish me. And there's a lot more drama that way, anyway.

Man, you could have got it for just a level's worth of skill points.

And you'd want it at bare minimum for skill with mininukes.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Also Mentats things. One dose of those will give you +10 explosives.

[TwoBitWriter]

I just got Dogmeat! *Boogies*

I can't wait for him to bring back a bit o' ammo, or tear out a raider's throat!

[Phase]

...

Great...

Game...

Arefu! Here I come!

I only have a few weapons, I'm not sure whether to slaughter innocents or seek out a pack of raiders...

[Nevrmore]

I don't know, someone make think it's a spoiler, so I spoilered it.
So far I'm finding this game to feel very Survival Horror-y. It's probably just because I suck at combat (I like trying to make people do what I want with a high Speech score), but I'm currently stuck at the Springvale Elementary school, chronically low on ammo and health. The giant fire ants who seem to do twice as much damage as any Raider don't help. I don't know, I read on a computer terminal at the school that they were going to try and poison the ants, so I thought that was a clue, but to what or how, I haven't the foggiest.

[Brewdude]

About Fire Ants...and how to kill them with just a 10mm

Hit them in the antenae...then they get confused, then go find a second one and get them next to each other, and watch the barbeque ensue. Rinse, repeat.

[Saithis Bladewing]

I don't know, someone make think it's a spoiler, so I spoilered it.
So far I'm finding this game to feel very Survival Horror-y. It's probably just because I suck at combat (I like trying to make people do what I want with a high Speech score), but I'm currently stuck at the Springvale Elementary school, chronically low on ammo and health. The giant fire ants who seem to do twice as much damage as any Raider don't help. I don't know, I read on a computer terminal at the school that they were going to try and poison the ants, so I thought that was a clue, but to what or how, I haven't the foggiest.

If you're using the VATS, it should become relatively easy to kill enemies even with a low Small Guns skill. Try to lure Raiders to follow you through a doorway, standing around the corner, then use the VATS to blast them in the head a few times. It's generally the quickest way to do it, and if you're lucky, you'll find more bullets on their body than you used.

As for the ants...there's no special way to kill the ones in Springvale other than shoot them. Always aim for the head and backpedal constantly, to keep them from getting close. I had a small arms of 40 going through there and I barely had any problems at all. If you're feeling sneaky, you could try and lure them up the ramp and get them into a fight with raiders, but that requires a high stealth rating. That area is nonessential, but you do get a nice weapon at the end of it, so it's worth going through if you have enough ammo. If you don't, consider scavenging as many objects as you can carry, limping back to Megaton, trading it in for more 10mm rounds at the Craterside Supply and then heading back.


If your fast enough, you can save the sheriff. I got lucky (which comes with having a luck of 10), and scored a crit on his head right as I started to see him pull out his silenced pistol.

I had an assault rifle at that point and I used a full VATS on his head at point blank and then held the button down the rest of the way, moving between Burke and Simms to protect him. He doesn't even get a shot off, because if you cripple his head in the opening moments, he staggers and grabs his head instead of shooting. Plenty of time to finish the job. Simms thanks you for saving his life and complains about getting slow in his old age. :smallbiggrin:

[potatocubed]

About Fire Ants...and how to kill them with just a 10mm

Hit them in the antenae...then they get confused, then go find a second one and get them next to each other, and watch the barbeque ensue. Rinse, repeat.

Oh is that why they kept going beserk? I was using grenades and land mines for the most part, so I got a lot of splash damage I guess.

[Archonic Energy]

Oh is that why they kept going beserk? I was using grenades and land mines for the most part, so I got a lot of splash damage I guess.

didn't anyone just hit them with a baseball bat?

and what's this special weapon, did i miss something?

[Saithis Bladewing]

didn't anyone just hit them with a baseball bat?

and what's this special weapon, did i miss something?

It's nothing special, at the end of the ant tunnels is a body with an assault rifle, a chinese spec ops manual and a bunch of ammo, IIRC. It's probably one of the earliest places you can get an assault rifle, short of killing Sheriff Simms or something.

[Bouregard]

A few questions...

Is there a lvl limit?
How could I build something (I'm before megaton. left the vault a couple of minutes ago.)

Are there differences with male/female?

[Semidi]

A few questions...

Is there a lvl limit?
How could I build something (I'm before megaton. left the vault a couple of minutes ago.)

Are there differences with male/female?

1: Yes: 20
2: Find schematics, get the parts, use a workbench (find one in the supply shop in megaton).
3:Slight: everything is dialogue.

[late for dinner]

I have been searching all over...where do I find dogmeat?

[Saithis Bladewing]

A few questions...

Is there a lvl limit?
How could I build something (I'm before megaton. left the vault a couple of minutes ago.)

Are there differences with male/female?

1. Level 20, though there are ways to get around that if you feel like it...

2. You need to find a work bench and have the appropriate parts. There's a work bench you can use in the Craterside Supply in Megaton, sometimes there are ones randomly around the wastes as well.

3. Only in the dialogue trees.

EDIT: Bah, simu'd.


I have been searching all over...where do I find dogmeat?

Kill a dog.

[TwoBitWriter]

I have been searching all over...where do I find dogmeat?

Scrapyards to the South of the Minefield.

Moira in Craterside Supply can direct you to the Minefield.
He'll be walking around, just talk to him and be nice. He is indescribeably useful!

[late for dinner]

thank you. I was looking north and all I found were death claws...what kind of animal are they a mutated form of??

[Saithis Bladewing]

thank you. I was looking north and all I found were death claws...what kind of animal are they a mutated form of??

Apparently they're an experiment in genetic engineering from before the war, created from the DNA of many different creatures.

[TwoBitWriter]

Hey, I haven't explored too much, but are there Geckos in this game?

[Saithis Bladewing]

Hey, I haven't explored too much, but are there Geckos in this game?

Not as far as I know.

[late for dinner]

Apparently they're an experiment in genetic engineering from before the war, created from the DNA of many different creatures.

well I dont like them. they kill me in like 3 hits. and they are quiet and tough. I was walking around an abandoned town and 2 of them jumped me out of nowhere. It made me jump....I died as well just to let you know.

[Zorg]

thank you. I was looking north and all I found were death claws...what kind of animal are they a mutated form of??

The Terrasque :smallwink:

[Driderman]

Apparently they're an experiment in genetic engineering from before the war, created from the DNA of many different creatures.

Actually, I'm pretty sure that they're a mutation of the Jackson Chameleon that was genetically altered after the war by enclave scientists. According to Fallout 2 at least.

[Tom_Violence]

Actually, I'm pretty sure that they're a mutation of the Jackson Chameleon that was genetically altered after the war by enclave scientists. According to Fallout 2 at least.

I believe you are correct, my good man.

[Saithis Bladewing]

Actually, I'm pretty sure that they're a mutation of the Jackson Chameleon that was genetically altered after the war by enclave scientists. According to Fallout 2 at least.

It's been a long time since I've played Fallout 2, but as I recall, Deathclaws were originally created before the war, but they continued to experiment on them afterwards.

[late for dinner]

Wow...I never played Fallout 1 or 2...never had a pc. That is amazing that they are Chameleons. They really experimented on them.

[Mc. Lovin']

*Man* Fawkes is awesome.

On the end of the game
Well that sucked

[Philistine]

*Man* Fawkes is awesome.

On the end of the game
Well that sucked

What? You're done? Already?

Now I'm definitely going to wait a year or two for the price to come down before I pick up this game.

[Illiterate Scribe]

What? You're done? Already?

Now I'm definitely going to wait a year or two for the price to come down before I pick up this game.

If it's anything like oblivion, it has a fairly short main quest - most of the content is in side-quests.

[Mc. Lovin']

What? You're done? Already?

Now I'm definitely going to wait a year or two for the price to come down before I pick up this game.

I must point out, before you change your mind, that I am a looser, and have been playing ... pretty much non-stop since I got it (I had about 12 hours of school, but that's cancelled out by me staying up till 3am every night playing it).

And I've barely begun to explore the many side quests (honestly, if you're getting oblivion / fallout for the main quest you'll be dissapointed)

[Myatar_Panwar]

What? You're done? Already?

Now I'm definitely going to wait a year or two for the price to come down before I pick up this game.

Yeah the main quest line isn't very long. But you have to wonder just how expansive this game is when I clocked 23 hours with only doing the main quest line and a couple side quests, and not to mention only getting to level 13.

[warty goblin]

Yeah the main quest line isn't very long. But you have to wonder just how expansive this game is when I clocked 23 hours with only doing the main quest line and a couple side quests, and not to mention only getting to level 13.

Just out of curiousity and having never played any of the old Fallout games (heretical of me I know, but this was back when my parents monitored my gaming and considered Caeser III to be pushing it on the violence scale...), how does leveling up in Fallout III work?

[Semidi]

Just out of curiousity and having never played any of the old Fallout games (heretical of me I know, but this was back when my parents monitored my gaming and considered Caeser III to be pushing it on the violence scale...), how does leveling up in Fallout III work?

You kill stuff--you get XP. You finish quests--you get XP. After enough XP, you get a level.

Then, you go in and get a certain number of skills based on your intelligence and perks (should be at 23 skill points if you're playing a maximized character). Then, you choose a perk based upon your stats and level.

[Inhuman Bot]

*Man* Fawkes is awesome.

On the end of the game
Well that sucked

No kidding >.>

I watched a friend beat it, and we said that simultaniously... oh well, time to make a demonic charcter now -.-

[Brewdude]

The good news is, fallout 3 doesn't spoil you for fallout 1 or 2 the way fallout 2 spoils fallout 1 for you (once you play fallout 2, you stop being able to stomach fallout 1's user interface).

[Twin2]

God damn death claws. :smallfurious:

[Nevrmore]

Well, I think things are coming along nicely. Finally killed the ants in the Springvale School by luring them to a place where I could swipe down at them without crouching. I'm currently doing quests for people in Megaton, mostly stuff for Moira's survival guide and the quest to find Lucy's brother.

God I hate the fire ants in Grayditch...

[Carrion_Humanoid]

God I hate the fire ants in Grayditch...
QFT!

The fireants can suck my rockets.

[Bouregard]

I got so much mines and explosives, actually nothing that i want to die had a chanche. Only thing that bothers me is that I run into a few supermutants shortly after leaving the vault...

[Avilan the Grey]

It's nothing special, at the end of the ant tunnels is a body with an assault rifle, a chinese spec ops manual and a bunch of ammo, IIRC. It's probably one of the earliest places you can get an assault rifle, short of killing Sheriff Simms or something.

Hey being a good-aligned character, all you have to do is to do the right thing and urge him to arrest mr Burke, and you get an assault rifle for free.

[Driderman]

It's been a long time since I've played Fallout 2, but as I recall, Deathclaws were originally created before the war, but they continued to experiment on them afterwards.

I'm not 100 % sure, but I think you're wrong.
In Fallout 1 there are no talking Deathclaws, they're just big scary monsters.
In Fallout 2 there's a lot of big scary monster deathclaws that you have to kill, and a small group of friendly, intelligent Deathclaws that was modified by a doctor some-name-or-other that you can meet, talk to and kill in the Enclave Vertibird base, Navarro. The guy with the second cybernetic dog

[Mc. Lovin']

Deathclaws
I accidentally let one loose from a computer-sealed crate in the enclave base

[late for dinner]

Yeah so I found the Dog...Dogmeat. He met his match to a giant radscorpion. I thought he would just be knocked unconcious, but instead he died for good.:smallfrown: I was lazy and didnt feel like restarting at my last save which was a long walk away. So, I let him die...and ate him...oh and just to let you all know my character is evil. Really evil. But I refuse to dupe over Megaton. I like them. they gave me a house. Rivit City on the other hand is at my disposal. Live Grenades in the pants? Anyone?

[The Orange Zergling]

About Tranquility Lane:

Is there a way to get through this without losing so much karma? I've did what the little girl said a few times and reloaded because I didn't want to become a bad guy. Thanks a lot.

[Traikan]

About Tranquility Lane:

Is there a way to get through this without losing so much karma? I've did what the little girl said a few times and reloaded because I didn't want to become a bad guy. Thanks a lot.

Go around and talk to everyone in town, then experiment a little. More detail in the next spoiler.Check out the noise making items in the abandoned house, yay for pattern guessing puzzles!

[Driderman]

Go around and talk to everyone in town, then experiment a little. More detail in the next spoiler.Check out the noise making items in the abandoned house, yay for pattern guessing puzzles!

Tranquility Lane, detailed explanation and detailed spoiler:

I never did any of "Bettys" quests, you have to activate the failsafe terminal and run the "Chinese Invasion" failsafe. Cause you know, causing real-life death to the Vault residents through the murder of their avatars and trapping Braun in the simulation forever is a good thing after all :smalleek:

I have no idea why you can't just shut down the simulation and wake up the people trapped in it.

[Inhuman Bot]

I recall someone asking about deathclaws.

here is all there is to know of them.
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Deathclaw

[Driderman]

Deathclaws being genetically engineered before the War and later refined by the Master is mentioned only in the Fallout 2 Official Strategies & Secrets strategy guide, written by Fallout 2 lead designer, Matt Norton, as well as in Fallout Tactics. It is unknown why the Master would genetically manipulate the Deathclaws and then not use them at all for his purposes.

The underlined section would explain why I was not aware of this. Damn you, Fallout 2 Official Strategies & Secrets Strategy Guide, I have been living a lie!

[Myatar_Panwar]

Tranquility Lane, detailed explanation and detailed spoiler:

I never did any of "Bettys" quests, you have to activate the failsafe terminal and run the "Chinese Invasion" failsafe. Cause you know, causing real-life death to the Vault residents through the murder of their avatars and trapping Braun in the simulation forever is a good thing after all :smalleek:

I have no idea why you can't just shut down the simulation and wake up the people trapped in it.

Because they have been in this simulation for a good 150-200 years. Wake them up and they would be dead anyway. Its one of the reasons Braun had to keep the thing going.

[The Orange Zergling]

Aaah, okay. That seemed to work (I even gained Karma) just fine. And hey, it was followed with a skippable escort quest! :smallbiggrin: Thanks guys.

Also, I found a Combat Shotgun for the first time. It keeps breaking every 2 minutes so I need to keep replacing it, but... I... I think I'm in love.

[Phase]

I need to go exploring more. I've more or less stuck to Megaton and the surrounding area for a good while. I think I'll head on over to Tenpenny Tower and see if I can have some fun there, before checking on GNR.

[Inhuman Bot]

Does ladykiller come in handy much? I know Black widow comes in handy for the megaton quest, but does the male version come into play much for dialouge or combat?

also, not having it yet, is mysterious stranger worth getting?

@V so, are you not reccomending getting it until the price drops, or not at all?

[Person_Man]

OK, so after a full week of playing Fallout 3 as if it were my second job, and tons of amazing details, I decide to beat the main quest. And oh my gods is it disappointing:

DO NOT CLICK UNLESS YOU WANT THE ENDING COMPLETELY RUINED.

Last chance:
After a cool scene where you follow the giant robot from the Brotherhood to the Jefferson Memorial, you eventually make your way to the rotunda. Once inside, you're locked inside and can't leave for some reason. The Colonial of the Enclave is there. You can talk him into leaving, or kill him. Somehow, he manages to walk out the door even though you can't. It turns out that the place is going to explode if someone doesn't go into the room with deadly radiation and turn it on right now. This in itself is a lie, because I put down my controller, went to the bathroom, got another beer, and then explored every nook of the rotunda as I waited for it to explode, hoping for a different ending. It never did.

You now have three choices, each of which dictates a slightly different ending:
1) You turn on the water cleaner, sacrificing yourself, but saving DC.
2) You plug in the FEV virus from the enclave and then turn on the water cleaner, killing all none pure humans, and sacrifice yourself.
3) You tell the Brotherhood chick to sacrifice herself, saving DC.

I tried plugging in the FEV virus and then telling the chick to turn it on. She does, but I get ending #3 again. I tried refusing to give the chick the code. I asked Fawkes, who was standing right there, if he could do it. He's immune to radiation, after all, and had done this for me just an hour ago. He gives me some lame line about not wanting to steal my ending from me.

These people promised me over 200 endings (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/25/new-details-over-200-endings-for-fallout-3/). It was a blatent lie. There were 3, and they weren't even very different from each other.

This, combined with the daily freezes and bugs, completely killed my desire to re-play the game. Dear gods I hope they make an expansion and fix it. 90% of the game is so well done, given the opportunity I would pre-order Fallout 4 tomorrow. But in the end, the game was just hugely disappointing.

[Mr.Bookworm]

OK, so after a full week of playing Fallout 3 as if it were my second job, and tons of amazing details, I decide to beat the main quest. And oh my gods is it disappointing:

DO NOT CLICK UNLESS YOU WANT THE ENDING COMPLETELY RUINED.

Last chance:
After a cool scene where you follow the giant robot from the Brotherhood to the Jefferson Memorial, you eventually make your way to the rotunda. Once inside, you're locked inside and can't leave for some reason. The Colonial of the Enclave is there. You can talk him into leaving, or kill him. Somehow, he manages to walk out the door even though you can't. It turns out that the place is going to explode if someone doesn't go into the room with deadly radiation and turn it on right now. This in itself is a lie, because I put down my controller, went to the bathroom, got another beer, and then explored every nook of the rotunda as I waited for it to explode, hoping for a different ending. It never did.

You now have three choices, each of which dictates a slightly different ending:
1) You turn on the water cleaner, sacrificing yourself, but saving DC.
2) You plug in the FEV virus from the enclave, killing all none pure humans, and sacrifice yourself.
3) You tell the Brotherhood chick to sacrifice herself, and saving DC.

I tried plugging in the FEV virus and then telling the chick to turn it on. She does, but I get ending #3 again. I tried refusing to give the chick the code. I asked Fawkes, who was standing right there, if he could do it. He's immune to radiation, after all, and had done this for me just an hour ago. He gives me some lame line about not wanting to steal my ending from me.

These people promised me over 200 endings (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/25/new-details-over-200-endings-for-fallout-3/). It was a blatent lie. There were 3, and they weren't even very different from each other.

This, combined with the daily freezes and bugs, completely killed my desire to re-play the game. Dear gods I hope they make an expansion and fix it. 90% of the game is so well done, given the opportunity I would pre-order Fallout 4 tomorrow. But in the end, the game was just hugely disappointing.

So you played the game for days, loved it, and now you don't like it because of the ending? No offense, that just seems really odd.

Also, the endings are different, in a very minor way. What you did during the game, and your Karma, affects the voice-over and what you see.

[Myatar_Panwar]

FYI, just like Oblivion, FO3 isn't about the main quest, its about everything else.

also, not having it yet, is mysterious stranger worth getting?

It's so good. Kinda rare, but its pretty much an instant kill on anything when it pops.

[Avilan the Grey]

I want advice about Perks (without spoilers):

What perks are worth getting? So far I am only lvl2, and a Gun Nut (I am a stalker / sniper character, main skills Small Guns, Sneak, Repair, 7 in luck, agility and perception, lower in the rest).

I am tempted to take Black Widow next, is it worth it? Or should I take another level of Gun Nut?

And what other perks are recommended for my character type?

[Bouregard]

Black Widow is useful if you have a low speech level. there are several encounters in th world where you could autosolve something with black widow if you don't want to attempt a high speech check. I take it with my females as a first perk always.
there are more male enemys in fallout then female.
Gun Nut is good. With maxed out repair/ small guns the game is pretty easy. Repairskill saves you a ton of money. Bottlecaps are pretty rare in F3, you're main income is questing, or to a smaller degree selling repaired weaponry.

Take sniper perk, commando oh and do something to raise your luck. 8

[Avilan the Grey]

Black Widow is useful if you have a low speech level. there are several encounters in th world where you could autosolve something with black widow if you don't want to attempt a high speech check. I take it with my females as a first perk always.
there are more male enemys in fallout then female.
Gun Nut is good. With maxed out repair/ small guns the game is pretty easy. Repairskill saves you a ton of money. Bottlecaps are pretty rare in F3, you're main income is questing, or to a smaller degree selling repaired weaponry.

Take sniper perk, commando oh and do something to raise your luck. 8

I think I'll skip Black Widow then, since I'm a guy, and go with a second Gun Nut.
Sniper, duh. Commando? What is it that one does again? Bloody Mess? Probably. Anything else?

[Cubey]

I wouldn't overestimate Lady Killer/Black Widow. The special dialogue options appear only in 3 cases for each trait. Three cases for a large, NPC-full wasteland. If you're interested in communications and not that +10% damage, I'd pass.

[Mc. Lovin']

Does ladykiller come in handy much? I know Black widow comes in handy for the megaton quest, but does the male version come into play much for dialouge or combat?

also, not having it yet, is mysterious stranger worth getting?

@V so, are you not reccomending getting it until the price drops, or not at all?

Nah, it's only ever given me information for quests twice that I already knew from high speach and lockpick skill. It's a bit of a waste if you ask me.

[Ozymandias]

I'd actually recommend against Gun Nut; at lower levels it's better to use Intense Training to bump up your Int (more points in the long run) or get Comprehension or Educated. At higher levels you probably will have maxed Repair and Small Guns anyway.

Plus, The Repair bobblehead is very easy to get.

[Avilan the Grey]

I'd actually recommend against Gun Nut; at lower levels it's better to use Intense Training to bump up your Int (more points in the long run) or get Comprehension or Educated. At higher levels you probably will have maxed Repair and Small Guns anyway.

Plus, The Repair bobblehead is very easy to get.

Well I will at least have one "level" in Gun Nut (even if I didn't have it already) because it fits my character, and I think I will choose the lvl 3 Perk to be Gun Nut too for the same reason: Roleplaying.

[charl]

The sniper-commando combo is really good. It's almost too good, as no enemies really present that much of a danger when you can headshot them at will.

I like cyborg too. Extra damage reduction is always nice.

Also the gunslinger is good, if you ever run out of ammo for your assault weapons and rifles and you need to use a handgun instead, or when you find a handgun that's better than any of your current weapons for example.

And don't underestimate action boy either.

EDIT: Gun nut isn't that bad. I take it when I can't find any other good perks at that level up. Although it's useless once you get your skills to 100%.

[TwoBitWriter]

I have yet to find a decent handgun after the 10mm pistol. Any recommendations?

[charl]

I have yet to find a decent handgun after the 10mm pistol. Any recommendations?

10mm submachine gun or magnum revovler. They turn up eventually. Try to keep your pistol in top shape with repair or by paying for repairs, and use vats to target specific body-parts to maximize damage until you find a better pistol.

Or use a rifle or a shotgun. Lots of fun with a shotgun.

[TwoBitWriter]

I'm trying to get to Rivet City, with hopes of having another trader available for use. I have been sticking around Megaton for a long while and am tired of waiting just to try and get more ammo.

I'm currently carrying a Hunting Rifle, Chinese Assault Rifle, 10 mm pistol, and Combat Shotgun. All because I am having a hell of a time finding more ammo. I sent dogmeat to find ammo and he disappeared. How long does he usually take for that?

[late for dinner]

Does ladykiller come in handy much? I know Black widow comes in handy for the megaton quest, but does the male version come into play much for dialouge or combat?

also, not having it yet, is mysterious stranger worth getting?

@V so, are you not reccomending getting it until the price drops, or not at all?

I picked up Mysterious Stranger. I have to say, I love it. Durring VATS, randomly, a **** Tracy Look-a-like comes out of nowhere and fires 4 deadly and accurate rounds into the bad guy. He has saved my behind on numerous occasions...and my ammo as well. I would definitly take it.

[Driderman]

Because they have been in this simulation for a good 150-200 years. Wake them up and they would be dead anyway. Its one of the reasons Braun had to keep the thing going.
Tranquility Lane continued:
Yeah that's what I assumed, but I still think it's weird that there seems to be no mention anywhere of whether leaving the simulation would kill them or not. They could just as easily be in a sort of stasis that prevents any aging, leaving them free to continue living after leaving the simulation

[charl]

Tranquility Lane continued:
Yeah that's what I assumed, but I still think it's weird that there seems to be no mention anywhere of whether leaving the simulation would kill them or not. They could just as easily be in a sort of stasis that prevents any aging, leaving them free to continue living after leaving the simulation

Knowing Vault-Tec, they were probably never meant to actually leave the simulation, thus it would be wasteful to install any stasis equipment above the absolutely necessary. Seems likely they can't leave or they will die.

EDIT: Also, who says they want to leave?

[Shikton]

Finished the game, and...
...it is - all in all - pretty damn great. I was also a little disappointed with the ending, it just seemed kind of rushed. Expecting a massive rush of Enclave soldiers and a tricky last boss I was instead faced with two enclave soldiers and the colonel. They all suffered from insta-kills by headshots with my combat shotgun (AWESOMEST WEAPON IN TEH WROLD!) and it was all pretty much over. I wanted something MORE after that point. Sure, the speech at the end is pretty nice, and I guess it's more expansive the more places you discover, but it just felt...lacking somehow. But I guess they'll make expansions, and I'm definitely buying those. This game is good enough for me to replay it, this time with a brutish but pretty woman. Is there a super sledgehammer in this game? *drool* Oh well, off to play through this again!

[Driderman]

Knowing Vault-Tec, they were probably never meant to actually leave the simulation, thus it would be wasteful to install any stasis equipment above the absolutely necessary. Seems likely they can't leave or they will die.

EDIT: Also, who says they want to leave?

More Tranquility Lane:

Well I just encountered some info describing the tranquility pods as Stasis Pods, but nothing more than that. There's no telling if the people would want to leave the simulation as there's no option to ask them. I couldn't even ask the "crazy" old lady Dithers whether she thought it was a good idea to initiate the failsafe after I discovered it.

[Person_Man]

So you played the game for days, loved it, and now you don't like it because of the ending? No offense, that just seems really odd.

Also, the endings are different, in a very minor way. What you did during the game, and your Karma, affects the voice-over and what you see.

I do love Fallout 3. But the ending feels a lot like the end of a summer romance. The time we had together was amazing, but when its over, you feel jilted and betrayed. I thought this was going to be so much more! How can you do this to me? I'll do my best to dwell on the happy memories, and to love again. And it probably won't be long before I call her up, trying to rekindle what we once had. Let's take another shot at it baby! Remember how much fun we had at the Republic of Dave? Yet I can't help but feel bitter over our final moments together. [/snark]



I want advice about Perks (without spoilers):

Take:

1) Educated: This Perk is worth 57 Skill Points if you take it at first level. So I highly suggest it.

2) Intense Training: I invested heavily in this. High stats help your Skills, give you new dialogue options, and many of the best Perks have a minimum stat requirement.

3) Commando or Gunslinger + Sniper + Action Boy: I used VATS heavily, and this helps a lot. But FPS veterans with good aim (or players with low Agility) will use it a lot less, making this Perk less of a must have.

4) Finesse + Better Critical: I found that I had a lot more crits after taking this, and they always killed the enemy.


Avoid:

1) Lady Killer or Black Widow and Child at Heart: Basically just open up the ability to skip quests by having the NPC just give you what you need. I took them anyway for roleplaying value, but from a crunch perspective they're basically useless.

2) Swift Learner and Here and Now: Big wastes unless you want to beat the main quest ASAP. You max out at level 20. This just gets you there faster, essentially throwing away one or two Perks for nothing.

3) Skill Perks: In the long run, none of these are necessary. IMO, the only Skills you need to max out are Small Guns, Repair, Lockpick, Science, and Speech. With your Tag Skills, Educated, 10 Int, and a few books and bobble heads, you can accomplish this by 10th-ish level. There are a few quests where you need Medicine or Explosives, but you can boost them with items to get the requisite ranks for the one or two instances which you need them. Anything beyond that is just for variety.

4) Bloody Mess: 5% extra damage usually works out to be less then 1 point per shot on most weapons. And the graphics change just makes death scenes look ridiculous.

5) Toughness and Cyborg and Adamantium Skeleton and Lifegiver: By mid level I always had a ton of Stim Paks. Using your Pip Boy to heal pauses the game. So I almost never died, unless an enemy got lucky with a missile, in which case I doubt these would have saved me.

Questionable:

1) Mysterious Stranger: Shows up every once in every 10 or 20 VATS usages and kills my target for me. Useful, but unreliable.

2) Money Perks: Plenty of Perks add ammo, caps, barter ability, Lawbringer, etc. If you're playing Evil, money is plentiful. Just steal from people and don't get caught. Or kill them. If you're playing Good, money can be an issue until later in the game unless you're a pack rat and constantly go back to town to sell things. So in the long run these are a waste, but in the short run its a lot more enjoyable to use whatever weapons you want and never run out of ammo.

3) Pyromaniac: Flamer fuel is pretty rare until the highest levels of the game. However the V3 Shishkebab is utterly ridiculous with this Perk. You can get it pretty early in the game: [warning, minor spoiler]
1. Max out your Repair Skill ASAP. The condition of your weapon effects damage.

3) Take the Blood Ties quest from Megaton. Follow it and you'll eventually meet a man named Vance. You can stay friendly with him and continue the quest, and obtain one from him. Or, you can kill him and take it, along with a V1 Shishkebab that can be used to repair your future V3.

4) A traveling merchant named Lucky. Just wait repeatedly outside Rivet City and he'll eventually show up.

5) In a small shack directly north of Evergreen Mills, really far north, near the top of the map. The shack is not a place you enter, it's just a small torn apart house with some Brotherhood Outcasts walking around.

6) The parts for the Shishkebab are:
Motorcycle Gas Tank: Springvale School, Super Duper Mart, Raider camps.
Motorcycle Handbrake: Springvale School, Super Duper Mart, Raider camps.
Pilot Light: Any oven. There's one in almost every house.
Lawnmower Blade: Benson House near Minefield, lawn mowers (somewhat common debris).

[Illiterate Scribe]

Also, Person_Man, how good would the combination of Zhu Rong (I think it's that, it's the version of the Chinese Pistol that shoots fire), pyromaniac, and all the other gunslinger abilities be? Does it give bonus damage for headshots?

Another question: just how common are small energy cells in the game? I'm hearing conflicting reports, and am trying to decide whether energy weapons should be tagged for the lulz.

[Driderman]

Also, Person_Man, how good would the combination of Zhu Rong (I think it's that, it's the version of the Chinese Pistol that shoots fire), pyromaniac, and all the other gunslinger abilities be? Does it give bonus damage for headshots?

Another question: just how common are small energy cells in the game? I'm hearing conflicting reports, and am trying to decide whether energy weapons should be tagged for the lulz.

I'm currently at level 15 and have been using energy weapons exclusively since level 10 or so. Of course, I've been trading all my loot for stimpaks, energy cells and fusion cells solely for the beginning of the game. I think I have around 900 energy cells right now and about the same of the something-fusion cells for the laser rifle

[Illiterate Scribe]

Ah, OK. I'm a bit of a hoarder anyway, so that's good.

[Tom_Violence]

3) Skill Perks: In the long run, none of these are necessary. IMO, the only Skills you need to max out are Small Guns, Repair, Lockpick, Science, and Speech. With your Tag Skills, Educated, 10 Int, and a few books and bobble heads, you can accomplish this by 10th-ish level.

You can max out skills?

[TwoBitWriter]

I have already decided that the Charismatic Scout/Sniper character I have made now is probably just going to wander the wastes forever. I made a few mistakes in building him so far (like getting Swift Learner at Lvl 2 before I found out about the level cap and Lady Killer at Level 3 because I figured it would allow interesting RP opportunities! :smallmad:)

[Illiterate Scribe]

I have already decided that the Charismatic Scout/Sniper character I have made now is probably just going to wander the wastes forever. I made a few mistakes in building him so far (like getting Swift Learner at Lvl 2 before I found out about the level cap and Lady Killer at Level 3 because I figured it would allow interesting RP opportunities! :smallmad:)

Oh, you're slipping, 2-Bit ... :smalltongue:

[TwoBitWriter]

Oh, you're slipping, 2-Bit ... :smalltongue:

Oh I got my personality back yesterday. I am simply awaiting my plastic surgeon who isn't available until Sunday.

[Nevrmore]

The Power of the Atom
I didn't realize how much doing this quest affects your karma. I mean, I assumed that blowing it up would send you straight down to "Oh God he's eating my babies!" evil, but I didn't think disarming it would shoot it up so much. Totally messes with the character I envisioned, I'm going to have to do a shiite load of stealing to get it back down to neutral.

Anyway, I got the Lady Killer perk because I'm putting as many points as I can into my Speech skill and I figured this would be a good one, but I haven't noticed any significant changes thus far.

[Person_Man]

Also, Person_Man, how good would the combination of Zhu Rong (I think it's that, it's the version of the Chinese Pistol that shoots fire), pyromaniac, and all the other gunslinger abilities be? Does it give bonus damage for headshots?

The Zhu Rong only deals 11 damage + 2 fire damage per second for 5 seconds, for a total of 21 damage. (As far as I know, it doesn't give any bonus damage beyond that). With Pyro it would be 31.5ish. That's much better then other pistols you might get early in the game, and it fires the ubiquitous 10mm ammo. But its a lot worse then a magnum (37) or blackhawk (55) or many of the other weapons you can find by the time you qualify for the Pyromaniac perk.


Another question: just how common are small energy cells in the game? I'm hearing conflicting reports, and am trying to decide whether energy weapons should be tagged for the lulz.

It depends on how quickly you do the main quest. If you want to specialize in energy weapons, then I suggest that you visit stores often (they sell limited amounts of energy weapons and ammo early), and do 90% of the main quest first. This will bring you into conflict with the Enclave, who all use energy weapons. It also adds Enclave soldiers to the random encounters, so you'll find energy ammo by just walking around as well. If you just explore and follow side quests, it won't be until late into your progression that you start to see a lot of energy weapon ammo.


You can max out skills?

Yes. Skills max out at 100. Anything that adds to that Skill beyond that point (Perks, bobble heads, books, armor, helmets, drugs) are wasted. So with the exception of Lockpick and Science (which require 100 for certain locks/doors), it's generally a good idea to aim for 90 in the Skills you want to focus on, and then let it get up to 100 on its own from stuff you encounter.

[Illiterate Scribe]

Thanks, PersonMan. I'll bear that in mind. Lazar weapons, here we come!