LadyCrimson

Yeah I did have more frequent time to spend per day once, plus I still have some minor physical issues (back/arthritis) sitting too long at a desk sometimes. Even with that tho, per hour played I think I just get a lot less 'done' than many. Not very focused.

From the weapon screen in your pip-boy, press and hold any number key except number two (number 2 is already slaved to switching ammo) and a sub-screen will pop up. From that screen you can click a weapon and it will be assigned to whichever hot key you were just holding down. That's definitely not noted under "Settings/Controls". heheh. Much better, you're a lifesaver. Also...I accidentally dropped my own weapon in a town & it turned 'red' on the ground. That feels so wrong. lol

Thanks again Tale...so then no, not really. Only if you want a melee route I guess then. It always boggles my mind when ppl say they finished a game in a weekend. I don't think I've ever been able to finish a 1st run thru a game (rpg's in particular) in less than 2.5 weeks, usually longer.

--I don't suppose I'm missing some alternate weapon switch key option somewhere? It's becoming annoying having to go into PipBoy to switch weapons mid-fight :/ --Is the Caravan game worth bothering with? I don't usually like mini-games...haven't been buying cards either, tho someone gave me a deck & I have ones that were findable.

Does anyone know how much a point of STR adds to weight carrying capacity? Wondering if it's worth pumping STR next time...

Are you using the cheaper boxed ammo? That's supposed to degrade them faster. I haven't had a problem with them degrading much at all, but I fix them past 75% as soon as possible, too. They seem to stay past 75% for a long time. Ah. I'm another lvl from being able to Repair him. I didn't know there would be so many skill-based options & I spread my points out a little much at first. lol, indeed. That's why I collect everything. I read that EVERYTHING in the game is/can be used for something, and since I have no idea as to when/how many...I'm so OCD...

Hide & Seek has to be one of Robert DeNiro's worse films. The first 30 minutes was somewhat enticing but after that....

I just caught a big Devil's Coach Horse rove beetle in the garage. They're weird creatures, the way they rise their hind end in threatening gesture, but useful in the garden. I see the smaller rove beetles a lot, but the Devil's one, full grown, not too often. I guess I shall be polite & release it back outside where it can kill worms and snails and such.

...yeah, I was hoping for something like 3rd quarter of 2011 but knowing Blizzard it'll be 2nd-4th quarter 2012. Maybe.

I'm only level 8....lol. I spend far too much time experimenting w/monsters and also too many pack-rat trips. I figure I'll just be selling most of it later but I can't help picking it up. Only being able to carry 200 weight bites. I spent some time trying to dynamite the giant scorpions from the cliffs near the graveyard close to Goodie town but that didn't work out well. I ended up using the NRC for the Sheriff of Primm. I did reload to try the other route (robot) and nothing seemed any different, but the robot marching around town muttering to itself was cute. Mr. Beagle is still grumpy either way, however. I've reached Nipton & almost time to move on. I don't have quest overload yet but I am starting to feel like rushing the main plot line a bit now. I want to get to Vegas. Crafting is helpful but I'm not really finding it to be truly necessary (non-Hardcore mode). So far the only thing I've really used it for is to make .357 shells since I'm now using a rifle w/that ammo. And some repair kits, but you don't need a very high repair level to make those. Beyond that Repair increases % results for self-repairing your gear and the usual dialogue/quest options. I noticed the merchants do replenish/add to their inventory as you level up, or something. The guy in Goodietown suddenly had a lot of caps again (1200+ this time) as well, recently, after I'd taken them all away long ago. Fine by me. I'll take them all away from him again.

Yea, I saw that a couple days ago I think. Looks like a revamped Assassin w/some Amazon-like ranged skills. Could be interesting. I have the feeling it's still going to be the Monk & Wizard for me. In that order. Then maybe I'll try out the new Assazon....er I mean Demon Hunter.

Bling is so over-rated! ....Wat? I'm not jealous, no wai. Is that a quest reward or just a whole lot of caps spending?

Personal Tech Notes: I retried that .dll file and for whatever reason, this time it seems to do something. The avg. FPS I get isn't actually any better, but it stops dipping into the low 40's on a constant basis and the mouse/running feels smoother. Wonder why it didn't seem to work before. Computers, bah! -------------------------------------------------------- I also tried that color-change mod since I wouldn't mind a little less yellow filter. It's ok, but it goes a little too far in the other direction, imo. Whites/shiny are too bright so you have to turn the Brightness slider way down to not burn out your retinas, which causes color over-contrast, plus night-time very dark . BUT it's a very good try and some may prefer things like that. Maybe I can get used to the bright.... Their sample pics are good but here's what I mean by the bright/whites: (click for full 1920x1080 size) Brightness slider at default: Brightness slider all the way down:

How did you manage to outrun it? I got pretty close to it, but noticed too late it was a Reaver and couldn't escape. It would probably have followed me all the way back to Primm and killed all the NCR troopers anyway. I should clarify...I was a lot closer (not using Sneak) 1st encounter, not realizing how dangerous he was, and died. I reloaded and tried several times to snipe it, with the results mentioned. As soon as I saw it charge me in the scope (before I'd even fired) I started running. For a long long time. When I turned he wasn't behind, & I'd try it again. Guess I was just far enough away?

I still don't understand the crafting ammo that much. I mean, I get it in theory, but to get most of the parts I have to breakdown other ammo & most ammo I don't use a lot won't give me 'small pistol' parts or whatever. Thus it makes no sense to me to destroy ammo I already have/may want to use to create the same ammo. I'm missing something? Or I guess I don't like specializing that much?

Some enemies have more aggressive reaction to Sneak more than others? Felt like the Feral Ghouls would aggro from Sneak at vast distances. I don't have a super high sneak, but even so their range/ability to detect seems greater than others. There was this Feral Ghoul Reaver up in the hills behind the police station after Primm...the ghoul was only an itty bitty dot in my rifle scope but as soon as I went into Sneak the word "caution" flashed & he started charging. I had to run from him, lot tougher than the Roamers. :D By contrast, the bandits by said police station I was able to sneak behind them until the back of their heads were pretty big in my sight. Also, somehow I've become a Good/Peacekeeper. Must be whacking all those bandits and trying not to steal too much (I steal, just not everything, lol...).

Personally Experienced Tech Notes: The text/sound notification delays have stopped. Unfortunately I'm not sure if it was because of the patches DL'd from Steam or because I turned off the ffdshow in K-Lite Codec, since I did them both around the same time. Not in the mood to test the ffdshow again right now. Haven't had another random crash since I did both of those things, either.

Does anyone know if there's any real chance of NOT becoming vilified by the Powder Gangers? They fire on you right from the get go & I just thought they were random bandits. I mean, hey, you fire at me, I fire at you, that's the way it works, oh yes. Since they hate me now anyway, I may try wiping them out or something if I can. I wonder if you can PO everyone off and be the Evil Lone Wolf. Probably not, I'll have to choose someone right... I noticed that the Powder guy hanging out in Goodtown (sorry I'm bad at remembering names) wouldn't talk to me until after I'd become vilified...then I had the option of killing Ringo & 'taking over the town' with the guy....dunno if that's par for course or the offered way to start to regain rep with the Powder dudes if you wanted. I reloaded, I don't want to help him, he's all skeevy & Powder dudes are idiots. I guess I should take notes when these NPC's jabber at me since I can't even remember what Ringo's deal is. haha.

I'm not sure what is meant by 'modem router' but I don't have any trouble connecting to Steam through our network, firewall, router etc. In terms of the OP...I can empathize. Offline mode means nothing if he has no home internet to connect with to initially install Steam/authorize in the first place. If he has a friend w/internet, he might be able to take his rig there to do it, but then he still can't download the patches from home either. Sucks, but oh well. Someday maybe you'll have the net at home perhaps & you can get the game then. Bright side:It'll be a lot cheaper!

I've had that happen to me (although the numbers were 6/7). Huh. I was hoping for more SPECIAL influence during the conversations. Oh well, game's still fun. I get the skill ones (speech, etc) all the time but the SPECIAL ones not as often. Maybe the further you get into the game, or maybe some faction or quest choices have more than others. The text is normal color but colors red when you hover the mouse over the sentence option.

Yay! SF Giants to the World Series! *raises a glass* ....if you'd told me it'd be Giants/Rangers a while back, I would've been a serious doubter. Glad to be wrong.

I have no idea. I'm terrible at decisions like that in rpg's. So terrible sometimes I avoid making it at all. And if you two mean the three guys closest to the sheriff, they didn't strike me as being harder than the others. But I'm not playing on SuperDuper Hard either. When I die it's usually because I'm surprised/caught off guard. I think I have trouble noticing the red lines in the UI because my eyes want to stay on the center of the screen & the compass thingie is so far bottom/left I forget it's there. I'm sure, like in Borderlands, as I get more & more used to things it'll get ever easier.

Only lvl 4 but I have to say from my newbie viewpoint I really like this game. Didn't even have a long period of "hmm maybe" before I was hooked. Pretty much right away. Good job, Obsidian. Love the difficulty, combat and tactical options that work for a variety of playstyles. Sure it's not "perfect" but it works nicely for me so far. The outdoors, at least early on, feels vast, lonely, & empty while hoofing it around. But since I have that great old music to listen to, I've been enjoying the trek too.

Cleared out Primm & then cleared out the old casino and rescued a deputy sheriff. His twangy, laconic voice had me tempted to leave him squatting handcuffed on the floor, but eh, I'm too nice. That was a fun little time, tho. Lots of goons in there. Hard to snipe in close quarters so it was a lot of run & gunning & hiding. And dying. I haven't had this much fun dying a lot, in a while. I was disappointed I couldn't try a slot machine in the other casino. The wife of Nash was sitting at one, not fair.

LOL! Hubby will be glad to know he's doing something so heroic! ...so lost into New Vegas that I forgot about the Giants ballgame. Missed the 1st 3 innings but hubs was watching so he told me about the almost-fight. I figure if it's not an actual fight, I didn't miss anything. Come on Giants, I'd love to see that Texas/SF WS!