My PSU is on the fritz so I picked up Fallout 3 for 360 and so far I'm enjoying it very much.  It's not a great RPG or FPS but put the parts together and you get a great game.

The one thing I'm enjoying is the sense of choice seems much more realized and nuanced.  My character is a no women, no kids type of murderer.  He's very polite when necessary but isn't afraid to shoot first and ask questions later if need be.

I like that I can tread the line between evil and good with results that actually vary.  It feels like there is actually a gray area which I've never felt in games before.

Quote from: kregmosier;261542ditto...won't play any FPS games on console.  i prefer the mouse/keyboard period, really, and i don't take away from anyone else in the houses' TV viewing.

I prefer games on PC but end up getting them for console because I have a lot more friends to play multiplayer with.  Mouse and keyboard may be more precise and I do prefer it but in the end both control schemes are equally fun and that's all I worry about anymore.

Quote from: CavScout;261541I just got an X360, and games seem more fun to play form the couch than on the PC.

The solution to that is clear: arrange things so you can play the PC from the couch. Now, mind you, I haven't ever owned a game system, and haven't owned a TV in a decade or so, and my living rooms are always centered around the computer because it's the heart of my recording studio, but just about anyone can make the necessary arrangements; in essence, it's all a matter of getting the PC hooked up to a sufficiently large display, and getting a wireless keyboard and mouse that don't make you go insane. I'm certainly available in terms of advice and experience.

Quote from: Engine;261939The solution to that is clear: arrange things so you can play the PC from the couch. Now, mind you, I haven't ever owned a game system, and haven't owned a TV in a decade or so, and my living rooms are always centered around the computer because it's the heart of my recording studio, but just about anyone can make the necessary arrangements; in essence, it's all a matter of getting the PC hooked up to a sufficiently large display, and getting a wireless keyboard and mouse that don't make you go insane. I'm certainly available in terms of advice and experience.

I've tried my PC on my HDTV and it looks like crap... the TV monitor just isn't up to snuff comparedto the computer monitor.

Also, I generally do FPS on the PCs and don't know about my skillz with me kicking it on the couch. ;p

Quote from: CavScout;261955I've tried my PC on my HDTV and it looks like crap... the TV monitor just isn't up to snuff comparedto the computer monitor.

You've got to get the resolution matched, for one thing, but yeah, monitors [in general] are much clearer than TVs [in general], largely because of the distances and sizes involved. Our solution was big monitors, and close seating; I still use two 21" Trinitron CRTs, and while it's nothing like the size of even a 32" TV, it's vastly higher quality, and when sitting closer, it looks far better. When "HD" started to become a catchphrase, I had to keep myself from saying, "I've been 'HD' since the 90s, when I bought by first high-quality 17" monitor."

Quote from: CavScout;261955Also, I generally do FPS on the PCs and don't know about my skillz with me kicking it on the couch. ;p

That's a bitch. They sell lapstation kind of things, but I've never used one effectively. I just sit a couple inches from the monitor, but I have that luxury. And my skillz are poor no matter where I sit.

My new video cards are HD capable I guess, and I've got the cables to connect it to my TV but I haven't tried it yet.  From what I understand they can match standard TV resolutions fine.  I really should do that someday soon.

While there may or may not be an official Fallout 3 mod tool looks like mods will (at some point) be on their way.  The guys who made the Oblivion mod editor TESsnip have started getting the piece together to make it work with Fallout 3

http://timeslip.chorrol.com/index.html

An incredible game.

However there is no way this is balanced. The mobs are grotesquely overpowered.

I've been playing non-stop for three days (aside from work, ugh... and a token amount of sleep...double ugh)...

... In some ways it doesn't feel as big as the previous games.  Maybe it's perspective...

And I've been avoiding the main quest line in favor of doing side quests, but I have the sneaking suspicion I'll be assbit when I hit level 20 and THEN turn to the main and (I think... ) have capped the game.

As for overpowered mobs:  I haven't found it much. Using assault rifles and combat shotguns as my primary weapons I've pretty much pwn-caked everything... even the minigun toting supermutants (who seem disgustingly fragile compared to those god damn fire ants... I mean 'fucken' fire ants'....) don't provide too much challenge.  I stick to VATS primarily, and even though I just got the 'mysterious stranger' perk, I've yet to see the bastard make a headshot for me.  Lazy bitch.

yep, no probs with mobs (!) from my end, either.  I'm lvl 13 and between the hunting rifle at range, and the combat shotgun when they get close-in, i'm billy badass.

Spike:  seems BIGGER than the previous incarnations to me.  you can actually travel on-foot from place-to-place, as opposed to the "click on map and travel with maybe a random encounter" of the first two.

i have the same worries about getting back to the primary quest though...i need to get back to that and stop sight-seeing.

Well, I don't WANT to finish the primary quest, as that, as I understand it, ends the game...

I DO want to use my looted 'Outcast Power Armor' however, and that means.... quest. Bastards.

Quote from: Spike;262790Well, I don't WANT to finish the primary quest, as that, as I understand it, ends the game...

Does it? FO2, at least, let you wander around after the final quest... things were a bit muddled, though, since the NPC dialogue was centred around the main quests, but you could still cruise around and sightsee - though usually the main quest would take you everywhere anyway so there'd be not much left to explore.

I don't know for certain, but I know there is an 'ending montage' to Fallout games (1 had it for certain) that changes based on what you did or didn't do.  I KNOW 3 has it, so I suspect that there is a point where your game ends, and I THINK the main quest ends with a heroic sacrifice... I have the guide so I won't miss good stuff (not as useful as the Oblivion one... this sucker is ugly and poorly detailed for minor 'freeform' quests and location maps. gah).

I actually only did about 85% of FO2... I know, I know... I'm a gaming failure.  Once I was stomping about in improved power armor with laser miniguns chewing through hordes of supermutants like candy, I sort of got tired of checking the blocks to complete the main quest (in FO1, that pretty much was the end of the game, the overlord's lair took me about twenty minutes to clear, total...).

I've got miniguns and lasers in FO3, but I noticed skills seem to rise slower in FO3 (tag skills no longer get double... boo!) so I'm still tweaking Small arms, don't want to waste my investment.  Planning to get EVERY bobblehead and book... thus the fat manual of doom.

well of course mobs aren't likely to be much of a threat at level 13, i'm only now level 4 - and that took much gnashing of teeth!

There is an end to the game, so if you want to keep playing you have to go back to a previous save and just ignore the ending.  Or start over and see about playing the character a different way to see how choices effect you.

I like the fact that mobs sometimes hand my ass to me.  I then get to decide do I want to try and take them on or run away and come back later for them.  This is a survival game at it's core so the fact that it's not balanced makes me happy.  Oblivion's method of scaling everything to your level was terrible.  Bethesda has redeemed themselves.

So, at level 13 I finally headed to the Washington Monument/GNR station...

Talk about weird scaling: The only way to get there is through the metro tunnels. The tunnels are largely unpopulated (handful of naked feral ghouls, some rad roaches)... so very easy. In fact the safes and terminals in the tunnels (skill books!!! Woot!) are all 'easy' as well.. stuff a first level character can crack if needed (second? third???)...

The moment you step out you start coming under fire from supermutants in groups of 3 to 5, often Brutes (armored) and generally at a great enough distance that you'll miss more than you hit even with the sniper rifle... only logistics allows the mutants to hit you (they aren't worried about not having any ammo once you are dead so they can spray and spray...)...

Seems to be a serious balance issue there.  My Small Arms skill is 80, I've got four VATS death on wheels perks, and I still had to used a dozen stimpaks, three psychos, two jets and wore out a gun all in about five minutes of play and twenty kills. I have NEVER used psycho or jet before....  

Maybe I was supposed to make the rail spike gun first? A fatboy maybe?