TheRPGSite

The Fallout 3 thread.

I just dropped the disk into my Xbox 360.  Ron Perlman does the intro narration again.  So far, so good.  So far the only disappointment is that there is no recipe in the instruction manual, but you can't have everything.

More thoughts to come.

... and it's already torrented, wow. Which with it being A$110 here Down Under is very tempting, not that my machine can run it anyway. I'll have to be content with visiting friends and going "ooh, aah" over their playing of it. And of course, hearing all about it on threads like this! :)

I just hope it feels like Fallout and not Oblivion with a Fallout mod.  I'll be scooping up the PC version as soon as my PSU is fixed/replaced.

It's hard to say how it's going to feel to you.  It's certainly easy to say it's Oblivion with Guns.  But it's more then that.  The overall presentation has a lot of the fallout charm to go with it.  The dialogue is certainly more entertaining then it was in Oblivion.  Also there are some interesting situations you can come across that feel very much like something from Fallout.  However it's still primarily played as a 1st person shooter.  You can tweak it with VATS but it's still ultimately an FPS.  The VATS kinda reminds me of how Stranglehold has that Aimed attack mode only Fallout relies on skill to see if you make the shot not just putting your pointer on the target.

The immediate thing to say is that it is Oblivion only better in almost every way, graphics, dialogue, story and tension.  But to decide on if it's better then Fallout well that's up the the player and what you enjoyed in Fallout vs whats in Fallout 3.

absolutely loving it.

QuoteThe immediate thing to say is that it is Oblivion only better in almost every way, graphics, dialogue, story and tension. But to decide on if it's better then Fallout well that's up the the player and what you enjoyed in Fallout vs whats in Fallout 3.

absolutely.  if you're a no mutants allowed forum regular, you probably won't like it.  if you 're a fan of the Fallout "universe", and enjoyed Oblivion, it will not disappoint.

Sounds good to me.  Plus with the PC version I'm sure the modding community will be out in force.  I put more time into Oblivion mods than the actual game I think.

I wouldn't hold my breath for Fallout 3 mods anytime soon based on

Quote from: Pete HinesRPS: There’s a Conspiracy Theory that would suggest that you’re removing the mod tools to make downloadable content more attractive. As in, if you get extra value for free, why buy the official stuff?

    Hines: That’s a good theory, by the way. And probably on some level it would work… but from our standpoint, whenever we do an Elder Scrolls game and release those mod tools, it takes a ton of work and effort. This is a bigger undertaking for us, and one we’ve not yet scheduled for. Is that to say it’ll never come out? No, I’ll never say that. If we have the time, we’d absolutely like to put them out. As we’ve seen with Oblivion and Morrowind those things definitely create a sense of community and there’s tonnes of people out there modding. We have our own little blog we run from Bethesda, and every week we’re out there interviewing people from our mod community – so it’s clearly something we support, something we take interest in and something we place value in and spend a lot of time highlighting good mods. It’s just the tools take time. They don’t magically appear. Someone’s got to write help files for what all the scripts do, and get it released as a consumer product. Because it’s not in that state otherwise. Developers will make do with anything.

It brings up an interesting point, certainly, that being, why should developers bother with the mod community when they can cash in on DLC? The answer is simple: shelf life.

    Another Journalist Interjecting: Also, it’s part of a PC world, which is not part of the console world which is a bigger part of the business than it might have been previously.

    Hines: That’s the other thing. Yes, the PC mod community does help extend the life of a product by the number of people who are still playing it, but as we’ve seen in Oblivion, there’s still people who are playing it on the 360 in the tens of thousands two and a half years later. In insane numbers. For two years in a row we were still in the top 10 most played Xbox games in the year, with zero user-mods. So yes, I definitely think it helps extend the community – but it’s not the only thing out there. The games themselves also do lend themselves to be continuously played and replayed. So yes, it’s a good conspiracy theory, but has nothing to do with the facts. It’s just a case of “Who the hell is going to do this?” as everyone is working on getting the game done right now.

Full Interview (http://www.neoseeker.com/news/8873-bethesdas-pete-hines-on-fallout-3-and-the-mod-community/)

Quote from: kryyst;261339I wouldn't hold my breath for Fallout 3 mods anytime soon based on

*snip*

Full Interview (http://www.neoseeker.com/news/8873-bethesdas-pete-hines-on-fallout-3-and-the-mod-community/)

Balls.  They have one of the most active mod communities consistently playing their games.

First impressions:

I forgot Liam Neeson was slated to have a role in the game.

I'm not that far into it yet, having just played the intro portion.  If the Vault is any indication of the rest of Fallout 3's graphical design, then they could not have done a better job of translating the 2D-isometric graphics of the first two games into 3D-first person graphics.  They nailed the look and feel.

My only complaint with the graphics is with the lighting, shadows in particular.  Faces and bodies tend to get hidden or cloaked in shadows at some weird angles.  This seems to be a common problem with sandbox 3D games as I have the same complaint with Oblivion and Grand Theft Auto IV.

The first part of the game serves as character creation and tutorial.  It's a mix of Fallout 1 and 2, Morrowind and Oblivion with point allocation, questionnaire and in-game decisions.  It can be a bit overwhelming but as with Oblivion you can make any last minute changes before heading out into the "real world".

I'm not too incredibly keen on the turn based version of combat just yet.  It's a nice throwback to the originals' turn-based targeting method but it just seems...off...I'll chalk it up to newbie learning curve for now.  

Conversation is by far and away much better than Oblivion's.  There's no goofy mini-game to persuade people, it's all traditional Charisma+Stat base.

Can't decide to buy for the PC or X360....

Cavscout:  I got the PC version just in case the mod tools do make an appearance, which i personally think is inevitable.  (or user-made 'hacks' at the very least..)

Quote from: kregmosier;261531Cavscout:  I got the PC version just in case the mod tools do make an appearance, which i personally think is inevitable.  (or user-made 'hacks' at the very least..)

I just got an X360, and games seem more fun to play form the couch than on the PC. My only gripe for the X360 would be 1st person shooters... I just can't give up the mouse/keyboard for them.

Quote from: CavScout;261541I just got an X360, and games seem more fun to play form the couch than on the PC. My only gripe for the X360 would be 1st person shooters... I just can't give up the mouse/keyboard for them.

ditto...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.

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 am trying to get info on Left 4 Dead to see if it is a FPS or 3rd person so I know which to order it for.

I find that the FPS's designed for x360 work pretty good in the single player games.  GoW, CoD, etc... the controls aren't as good as mouse keyboard but they are perfectly usable for the single player game.  Where I find they start to be come more laggy is when you go online and reaction time seems to matter all the more.

However Fallout 3 on xbox perfectly fine even though it is FPS it's not so twitch based that it's a problem and the ability to snap into VATS goes along way.  So while a spec'd out PC certainly looks better then the x360 version the x360 version is still gorgeous and personally I find I spend way more time with my 360 then I do with my PC these days.  I just find it more fun to play games on it.

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. :D

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?

How effectively are you using cover, and how far away are you engaging the enemy from? Also, are you keeping your guns in good repair so that their max damage doesn't drop off? If you can, try to start engagements hidden as well, since the sneak attack damage is awesome. If your sneak sucks, hide while you're still a long ways away and snipe them and you'll still get the damage.

Its not that my character is particulary weak or inept, it's that you suddenly find some supoer mutant with a minigun! Or, en route to arefu for the first time, five raiders in armour one of which has a flamethrower!

I cannot stress enough the value of the Combat Shotgun as a weapon, particularly when clearing buildings and tunnels.  Using VATS I regularly get 1 hit kills on just about everything (headshots only) up to, and occasionally including Super Mutants.  Packs of Feral Ghouls? No Problem.

For longer ranges, I actually prefer the Chinese assault rifle, though I keep the sniper rifle handy too, as it is more accurate (but less damaging, oddly).  

Now, my Energy weapons skill is half my small arms, but once you get a Plasma gun (in my case the named one...) it is  brutally effective, Combat shotgun killy potential combined with assault rifle range/accuracy.

Wow, sounds pretty FPS to me. What about all that multiple-choice conversation tree stuff from 1 and 2? That used to be halfway to genuine roleplaying, your character's personality affecting the way the whole story went.

In both 1 & 2, you could go through the whole scenario killing no humans; in 1 you had to kill mutants, but not in 2. You'd have to kill some rats, and have to kill Frank Horrigan in 2. But you could do huge chunks of the scenario with no violence at all, if you wanted to.

It doesn't sound like that now, sounds like the point is to wipe 'em all out. Which is fine and fun, but rather different.

Or not...?

Well, raiders and mercenaries can and will attack you in the wilderness... all the time, and you DO have to kill them unless you can somehow run away  (while they shoot you...), and supermutants are automatically hostile to humans.

The Ghouls are fun, I actually don't have to kill any more ghouls, since I did the Tenpenny tower quests (chosing to work towards peace and harmony, the other options being genocidal warfare for, or against, the smart ghouls...) and my reward was a 'ghoul mask' that keeps feral ghouls (mindless critters) from attacking me.

It's pretty much true of all the fallouts that there are hostile people that will attack you, and you do have to fight them off... but the story and quest stuff is a lot more open ended/branching tree than any FPS, closely akin to both previous fallouts and oblivion.  Fer Ex: you have the option to blow up Megaton (the main town) OR save it from the same fate very early in the game.  Or you can do nothing, which is sort of like not blowing it up without the reward.  I'm currently deciding to help out the run away slaves, rather than help the slavers...

I think one difference is there are more automatically hostile 'raiders' than you commonly saw in earlier Fallouts (disregarding Tactics...), and the feral ghouls are newish.  I haven't encountered any Deathclaws yet, but I suspect they are (unlike Tactics) hostile animals like the Yuo Gaoi...

I have no probloem with the idea of the wilderness being hostile. IN fact I have no problem with any of the concepts in the game; however I think the execution is unbaloanced. It's just too harsh. When you step out of an underground (as i did lots last night trying to reach the museum of technology for 3dog), getting immediately assaulted by 3 super mutant brutes armed to the balls with miniguns, then I have to question just what, either, I'm doing wrong, or the devs were thinking. I love this game, but there is no way this is balanced (it doesn't help that the SE portion of the map, the central urban area, is a nightmare to navigate with all the routes underground and dead ends). I struggle so much because you have to pay so much to maintain your health, ammo and gear. Half the time when i shoot I miss (and my combat is by no means weak - IMHO at least), and when i hit rarely will i do much damage. It's crazy! You can fight a raider with a shotgun and hit him five times in the head before he goes down, meanwhile he will close in on you instantly and start wailing on you unrepentantly with a hammer! On top of that healing effects are weak at best - stimpacks giv e nowhere near enoough health.

The wasteland shoudl be harsh, but the game should reflect that proportionately, not send you on quests through areas full of mobs that will kill you instantly. For instance, I made it to the Arlington Library as per Moira's quest. When I reached the room with the stuff she wanted there were three raiders waiting, one of whom had (and used) a rocket launcher. That's great, splash damage for the win!

I ove this game, but it ain't easy!

Golly! This game sounds fun!
 
I was just about to start a thread about what CRPG to buy, but this sounds gravy.

Should I play 1 or 2 first?

I don't see why 1 or 2 would be necessary for enjoying 3. But 1 and 2 are enjoyable in their own right. In my view, they're the closest any computer game has come to allowing roleplaying.

There's an overall quest, but lots of miniquests, when you talk to NPCs you have multiple choices for responses (the higher intelligence your character, the more choices), and your responses determine their attitude to you.

Which missions you choose, and who you kill, determines your reputation. If you achieve certain reputations some people will automatically befriend or loathe you.

And in the second game, there's only one humanish NPC you have to kill to complete the main quest. So long as you're fast you can flee from random encounters aside from that.

Though limited by the computer, there's a fair bit of stuff you can do which distinguishes your character from any of a hundred others who pass through the same adventure. In this, it's roleplaying.

Go play 1 & 2 :)

So I got a good chance to put some significant time into fallout 3 this weekend (several 4-6 hr jaunts as opposed to an hour here or an hour there) and now have a very good feeling for the game.  I loved it from the beginning and that hasn't changed but some things I have a better appreciation for now...

First I'm playing it on the xbox and in about a total of 20hrs of play it's only locked up once.

The whole Oblivion with guns comparison is probably the most accurate description to give it, no real shocker there.  While the primary control is that of an FPS the game is definitely not an FPS, which may throw some people off.  It's far more of a tactical game where you need to sneak around, use cover and try and draw your enemies out.  Your armour isn't great and until you get much better in your weapon of choice your snap FPS style shots are often going to miss.  So the key is to get in close pull up VATS and kill stuff.

This game really is about using the right tool for the right job and you need to play it more like a Survival Horror game then an FPS.  If you keep that in mind you should be fine.  Resources aren't unlimited simple as that.  You need to make use of all of them.  Which often means picking up every scrap and making frequent quick teleports back to your safe city to sell it off, sleep to heal (which is free).  This is a basic strategy that you really need if you want to maximize your effectiveness.

Do quests. Wandering is great and you can fine some really cool side things.  But generally its more effective to do the bigger quests you run into in the cities/camps you hit.  They often provide bigger in game rewards and also help to find new areas to explore.

Melee weapons - no ammo, lots of damage use them.

Now in terms of Story I really like it.  From the subtle hints you find to the Galaxy Radio caster talking about your deeds.  I find that this game really keeps me feeling grounded and part of the story.  Much more then Oblivion ever did and yes even more then Fallout 1 or 2.  In Fallout 3 I feel important and want to keep going and less of an observer that's just being pushed forward.

Leveling.  You only have 20 levels, so plan ahead.  You can't be master of every skill so you need to really pick a core few and develop them.  The most difficult decision will be your weapons.   They are all so much fun.  The good news is you really can't make a wrong choice as they all are viable for the end game.  Also you get access to all of them early so it's not like if you waste developing energy weapons now you won't see your first one until the last 1/3 of the game.

Also on the subject of leveling most areas of the game set their level when you find them.  So if you go to an area, find it to tough to finish.  Just leave it and come back later when your tougher.   You should then have a much easier time going through it even if it's a matter of just having the right equipment for the job.  This is also key to certain story levels.  If you hit a quest point earlier it'll lock it.  You can then leave it alone go explore, come back later and that story quest will be easier.  Of course if you do this all the time then eventually quests will catch up with you and they'll all be hard.

The Rock-It Launcher.  This thing is great.  Save up your coin to buy the schematics asap.  Then this becomes your ammo saver.  All those cups and bottles you find lying around.  Sure you can collect them and sell them.  However if you have the Rock-It launcher you can shoot them instead.  Best of all you can often retrieve them making for almost unlimited ammo.  More importantly though it means you can save your bullets for when you need them.  Also it's pretty cheap to maintain the Rock-It launcher.

Combat is borked by the fact that the mobs move insanely fast. Anytime you need to reload they just move straight next to you and can dodge stupidly easily if you don't use the vats to target. The vats system is really good, but combat in this game is a needlessly awkward fps twitch  hybrid which doesn't work that well. In situations with one mob it's not too bad if you have a decent weapon, but when you find a group appear you're in exponentially much greater trouble. And when you walk into a room to find a guy suddenly fire a missile at you, then you're fucked. That crosses the line to stupid.

One other thing i've noticed is scavenging isn't really generous enough. I have schematics for things i can build but can't find certain parts for at all. I've yet to see motorcycle parts. And as for locating sugar bombs, forget it. I've seen two packs - and one of them i stole of 3dog. Anything else, crisps and snacks, are much more abundant.

I think you are just having bad luck.  I've found enough parts to make 4 shiskabob swords now and probably 6 rock-it launchers.  Though I haven't been building more because I'm waiting until I get my hands on more advanced schematics for them.  Sugar Bombs are more rare to be sure but I've sold about 8 packs now to the ghoul in the subway.

The Mob's charge you, but if you are prepared it's not so bad.  Just blast a few at range then as they charge in flip to a hand weapon and start swinging or back/run away and keep shooting.  Mobs typically only charge in if they are using melee weapons anyway.   If they are using ranged weapons they are charging to do hit and run tactics.

Missles to the face though, yes very painful and annoying.  But easy enough to get around with if you just skirt the corner first and see if you get any enemies popping up on your screen.  Usually you can trick them into firing and be out of the way or get the jump on them first.

They key is play tactical and not Rambo.

I don't play rambo. I sneak around as that's my character's schtick. But it seems to me you need to really max out combat to hit more than 60% of the time or so.

Ghost: I don't know exactly what you are doing wrong, per se. I first encountered supermutants when I still thought the hunting rifle was pretty sweet (actually, I also had to face a crazy sniper (with, you know, a Sniper Rifle) with my trusty hunting rifle, which is a pain.

Part of it is possibly play styles.  I mean, you gotta know what to use, when. The hunting rifle (or most pistols) are absolute ass unless you are going for 'long range' shots (give that the game seems to favor shorter ranged fights that's not much of an option).

Autofire weapons may be more your speed, but really I found Shotguns (particularly combat shotguns) combined with VATS solved everything that runs up on you.  And yes, you do need that 70%+ small arms to really dominate, or perks that are specific to your combat style.

I can highly recommend avoiding downtown DC until you are comfortable facing down supermutants.  Its that simple. The game faaking tells you as much over and over again.

I can't speak much to melee combat yet.  I'm taking a light break before I beat the game the first time before I make my 'evil ninja of death' punchy dude.   Of course, if you gimped your luck in character creation you may be suffering a lack of critical hits... I don't know.  (also: Stimpack health gains directly relate to your medicine skill. Raise that and the amount of health you get back goes up... another key is to make sure you have a home, and if you get (too) hurt, fast travel back and rest for an hour, then fast travel back to where you were fighting. The stuff you already killed generally stays dead. It will save you a fortune on stimpaks.

The game shoudl have been a fps like bioshock. I don't know why they bothered with the silly pretend fps they used as it's utter fail. other than that the game is excellent, if repetitious. i completed it and traded it in, i see no desire to play through it again.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;267592I don't know why they bothered with the silly pretend fps they used as it's utter fail.

Have you played either of the first two Fallout games?

Nope.

Played Bioshock though; awesome game.

Ah, see, that's why. The first two Fallout games were turn-based, and if they'd eliminated that element, they'd have been set on fire by the fanbase. So they tried to walk a line between, making each possible, but in my understanding only VATS is truly practical. I would be hard-pressed to say: my version of the game doesn't feature interactivity, as all I can do is stare at screenshots, which aren't as dynamic or interesting as the actual game. *sigh*

Non-VATS is not utterly impractical.  Quite often, when I'm low on AP and can't finish off a fight in VATS its simple and easy (and with some weapons actually ammo conservative!!!!) to squeeze off an extra shot or two (or on the god damn giant radscorpions!!! a dozen or more...) shots while my AP slowly comes back.

You CAN run and gun, but like Ghost Whistler, you'll probably not like it as accuracy is still based on skill in the game, not skill with the controller.  It IS an RPG, after all...

Quote from: Spike;267666Non-VATS is not utterly impractical.

Yeah, that was a bad bit of phrasing on my part. From what I've gathered, a mixture of the two is best, perhaps emphasizing VATS more than "freehand." Still, it's not like VATS is the only way to get through the game; it's just impractical to do well without using it pretty steadily.

Well, the game designers weighed in pretty heavily on that when pretty much all of the combat perks (other than just the ones that give you more skill...) all require you to be using VATS.  Want extra crits? Use VATS and this perk. Want more headshots? Sniper gives you a bonus... In VATS... want the mysterious Stranger to finish the job for you? Only in VATS...

So, unless all your perks are non-combat (easy enough: Take intense training ten times and the skill bonus perks for the rest....), you WILL be using VATS... a lot.

Except half the shots made in VATS miss.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;267877Except half the shots made in VATS miss.

It's like you see the rules then completely go against them and wonder why they miss.  Vat's give you percentages to hit.  If you're percentage is less then 50% you'll miss more then half the time if it's over 50% you hit more then half the time.  If it's 95% often you can kill things in one or two hits, depending on what your shooting them with.

Vats works as it's intended to do.  Mind you so does the rest of the game.  There's no misrepresentation. It's an RPG played in first person mode where your characters skills effect their ability to get things done.  It's not a FPS that just want you to move a red dot onto target and press a trigger.

Well, VATS isn't entirely perfect.  I had a rad-roach that stood up to me (with my plasma gun) and my companion (with his gatling laser) despite a 95% hit rate until, in frustration I pulled out a random melee weapon and bitch slapped it. Also, very occasionally i've noticed that things you hide behind get in the way of hte shot without actually affecting the hit percentage.   Crouched behind a desk and shooting a seated target in the head on the other side? Sure, it SAYS 95%, but when you actually pull the trigger every shot hits the desk...

Aside from that one, random, radroach and the weird cover thing (which is common, actually...), VATS does hit as often as it says it will.  Nothing stops a run of 96%+ RNG rolls (three in a row once...) but they get offset by the times you hit three out of three on a 37%.  (quite often, actually...), never mind that damned Mysterious Stranger who doesn't care if you hit, miss, or shot the damn desk... if you attack in VATS he can pop out and kill it for you.... no matter what it is.  

MS: Stupid Perk (really...), but occasionally useful and/or humorous.  9 times out of 10 he shows up when you are one hit from killing the target (or, in some cases, KILLED the target) or its something pathetic (mole rats!) and 'finishes him off'... but that tenth time... There went a Super Mutant Master with a missile launcher who you just missed every shot on... there went that sniper that's been eating your lunch despite a 5% hit chance back...  there went that Giant Radscorpion (or Mirelurk King) that you just didn't have enough umph to kill before he bumfucked you...

One thing really bothers me ...

Psycho apparently boosts one's damage by 25% regardless of whether one uses melee or ranged weapons.


I can see how a drug could boost one's muscles, causing one to hit harder in melee ...

how could it make a gun do more damage?  Does it make hand-eye coordination better?

Quote from: riprock;269639One thing really bothers me ...
 
Psycho apparently boosts one's damage by 25% regardless of whether one uses melee or ranged weapons.
 
 
I can see how a drug could boost one's muscles, causing one to hit harder in melee ...
 
how could it make a gun do more damage? Does it make hand-eye coordination better?

Still haven't had a chance to play the game, but I'd guess that...
 
A psycho with an icepick stabs you in the eye.
A psycho with a gun shoots you in the eye.
 
...or whatever delicate part of my anatomy has 25% more ouch per cm^3.

Quote from: Malleus Arianorum;270226Still haven't had a chance to play the game, but I'd guess that...
 
A psycho with an icepick stabs you in the eye.
A psycho with a gun shoots you in the eye.
 
...or whatever delicate part of my anatomy has 25% more ouch per cm^3.

"Psycho" is a combat-drug in the drug that comes in an odd dispenser that looks like a pressurized hypodermic attached to an elastic bandage.

Apparently it boosts damage output for its taker.

And, having finished the game, I must say the main plot does not thrill me as much as Fallout and Fallout 2 did.  

However, overall presentation is less annoying than Fallout 2.