Fallout 2

[Dark_Raven]

Wandered around Broken Hills and solved a few quests. Killed the intelligent scorpian.

 

Now I'm in New Reno and it turns out I'm not good enough to be a porn star. Sadness.

New Reno is awesome. Gangsters, drugs, sex, you can't go wrong there. If you failed at being a porn star at least make your married other be a fluffer.

[Pop]

This doesn't have anything to do with Fallout 2 directly, but I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else that the Fallout IP has of today become the exclusive property of Bethesda.

[Lord Elden]

Find a sledgehammer. You can find one in Modoc the earliest. It's a decent weapon before rippers(New Reno, Sierra Army Base) and cattleprods(Broken Hills).

While the Sledgehammer looks cool it's not the greatest weapon. Why? It has good range (2 hexes) and good damage for an early weapon, however, the AP cost is +1 compared to Combat Knife (which makes more damage btw) and it makes less damage than Sharpened Spear (which also has 2 hex range and 4 AP cost). Early on I'd rather use either a Combat Knife or Sharpened Spear than Sledgehammer. Later on Ripper, Wakizashi Blade, 'Lil Jesus', Louisville Slagger, Super Cattle Prod and Super Sledge are all good choices. Then again, I mostly use a build of Fast Shot trait + Bonus ROF + 2x Bonus Ranged Damage + Better Criticals + Sniper combined with Bozar or Vindicator to get by in the wastelands. Somehow it makes more sense to shot the enemies into chunky pieces from afar than to run towards them with a knife in hand...

[Maria Caliban]

New Reno is awesome. Gangsters, drugs, sex, you can't go wrong there. If you failed at being a porn star at least make your married other be a fluffer.

 

As a citizen of Las Vegas, I'm rather unhappy that Reno has survived the apocalypse and we haven't. Not only is much of Reno skuzzy, but we have rich people building an entire mini-city under a huge dome. I'm hoping they have a BioShock like mutation frenzy, and thirty years from now one of my children will wonder around the ruins of the dome, blasting away at monsters.

[Musopticon?]

Find a sledgehammer. You can find one in Modoc the earliest. It's a decent weapon before rippers(New Reno, Sierra Army Base) and cattleprods(Broken Hills).

While the Sledgehammer looks cool it's not the greatest weapon. Why? It has good range (2 hexes) and good damage for an early weapon, however, the AP cost is +1 compared to Combat Knife (which makes more damage btw) and it makes less damage than Sharpened Spear (which also has 2 hex range and 4 AP cost). Early on I'd rather use either a Combat Knife or Sharpened Spear than Sledgehammer.

And while Fallout 2 has a lot options it's not a hard game. That's why I'd rather pick a sledge that does larger criticals and pushes people backward and have fun than optimize my item build. But that's just me.

 

I'd throw it away once something better than combat knife comes along though.

[Lord Elden]

And while Fallout 2 has a lot options it's not a hard game. That's why I'd rather pick a sledge that does larger criticals and pushes people backward and have fun than optimize my item build. But that's just me.

You can always set combat difficulty to Rough (I usually do)... And limit armour usage to exclude Power Armour. Or otherwise penalize the game to make it more difficult. How do you know Sledge has 'larger criticals' (do you mean better or more criticals?) btw? And does anyone know if there's any difference besides the AP cost on the two different attacks the sledge allows?

[Slowtrain]

I'm actually getting the itch to play Fallout again. I thought those days were gone for good.

[Musopticon?]

And while Fallout 2 has a lot options it's not a hard game. That's why I'd rather pick a sledge that does larger criticals and pushes people backward and have fun than optimize my item build. But that's just me.

You can always set combat difficulty to Rough (I usually do)... And limit armour usage to exclude Power Armour. Or otherwise penalize the game to make it more difficult. How do you know Sledge has 'larger criticals' (do you mean better or more criticals?) btw? And does anyone know if there's any difference besides the AP cost on the two different attacks the sledge allows?

Sorry, I don't feel the need to limit myself like that, I can just play another game if I don't like the difficulty.

 

I tended to get very high damage criticals with sledges.

 

Sorry, I don't know the difference. Been a while since I last played and back then it was with a pure unarmed build.

[CoM_Solaufein]

I'm actually getting the itch to play Fallout again. I thought those days were gone for good.

Nostalgia can have a strong pull on you. Once in a while I will play those old great games like Fallout.

[Maria Caliban]

I wouldn't can it great... but it's fun despite the hiccups.

[Lord Elden]

Sorry, I don't feel the need to limit myself like that, I can just play another game if I don't like the difficulty.

Just a suggestion.

 

I tended to get very high damage criticals with sledges.

Could be just a coincidence. Although, it seems Unarmed combat gives more criticals then Melee but I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere. Also, in my experience when you have the Sniper perk it gives almost always a critical with burst but less so with aimed shots which is funny since aimed shots should have a higher chance of critical anyway.

 

Sorry, I don't know the difference. Been a while since I last played and back then it was with a pure unarmed build.

I know there are aiming bonuses for some ranged weapons, all shotguns get +20% to hit percentage for instance. Haven't noticed much about melee weapons except some have the knockback ability.

 

I played FO2 recently. I recommend installing fixpack.

[Musopticon?]

Thanks for that link. Helps a lot.

[Spider]

Also, in my experience when you have the Sniper perk it gives almost always a critical with burst but less so with aimed shots which is funny since aimed shots should have a higher chance of critical anyway.

 

It's because Sniper requires a luck roll on each hit to determine if it's a critical or not. Actual critical chance isn't a factor. And I'm guessing that with burst weapons, a luck roll is made for every bullet that hits (iirc, at least you roll to hit for each bullet fired). So then at least one should get the crit.

[Humodour]

Also, in my experience when you have the Sniper perk it gives almost always a critical with burst but less so with aimed shots which is funny since aimed shots should have a higher chance of critical anyway.

 

It's because Sniper requires a luck roll on each hit to determine if it's a critical or not. Actual critical chance isn't a factor. And I'm guessing that with burst weapons, a luck roll is made for every bullet that hits (iirc, at least you roll to hit for each bullet fired). So then at least one should get the crit.

 

Yep you roll for each bullet. Which is why you should never use armour piercing rounds in burst weapons.

 

Dammit, I feel like playing FO 2 again. Might just if I can't fix the scratch on this IWD1 CD.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

As a citizen of Las Vegas, I'm rather unhappy that Reno has survived the apocalypse and we haven't. Not only is much of Reno skuzzy, but we have rich people building an entire mini-city under a huge dome. I'm hoping they have a BioShock like mutation frenzy, and thirty years from now one of my children will wonder around the ruins of the dome, blasting away at monsters.

 

Fallout 4, here we go!

[Lord Elden]

It's because Sniper requires a luck roll on each hit to determine if it's a critical or not.

I know that, but I had expected the bonii to be cumulative, both from Sniper perk and from aimed shot. So, does Sniper override the critical chance calculations for aimed shots? It almost felt like I delivered more insta-death criticals to the eyes before I took Sniper than after (with Luck of eight)...

 

And I'm guessing that with burst weapons, a luck roll is made for every bullet that hits (iirc, at least you roll to hit for each bullet fired). So then at least one should get the crit.

That would explain why bursting almost always results in a critical hit. How does the calculations work, does it roll the chance for each bullet then applies the critical hit only to the bullets that made the roll? In that case I presume they all get the same critical result (invidual bullets don't get different critical results).

Edited April 15, 2007 by Lord Elden

[Deraldin]

I'm actually getting the itch to play Fallout again. I thought those days were gone for good.

 

I'm installing Fallout 1 as we speak. I unfortunately do not have Fallout 2.

[Dark_Raven]

I'm actually getting the itch to play Fallout again. I thought those days were gone for good.

 

I'm installing Fallout 1 as we speak. I unfortunately do not have Fallout 2.

Amazon.com should have it.

[Lord Elden]

I think the newest re-release has both FOs in the same package. Personally, I have the first versions bought sometime back in '98, they came in those large cardboard boxes (although they take much place, I like them more than the DVD boxes games come in nowadays, at least they used to print large manuals for the games back then, now you get to read the manual on the disc instead, annoying), my FO1 disc got scratched though, so I bought a new one a couple of years ago. Unfortunately my FO2 version is the UK version without children, but some nice soul on the net has made a fix for it.

[Maria Caliban]

Lord Elden:

" I think the newest re-release has both FOs in the same package."

 

Indeed they do. I now have two copies of the first FO, as I lent FO2 to a friend who then moved to Montana. I've never played FO as I've heard FO2 is the same thing, only better.

 

"Personally, I have the first versions bought sometime back in '98, they came in those large cardboard boxes (although they take much place, I like them more than the DVD boxes games come in nowadays, at least they used to print large manuals for the games back then, now you get to read the manual on the disc instead, annoying"

 

Bah, I say, and double bah. Those huge boxes were a waste of space, and the move to little or no manual happened before the smaller boxes became popular. I remember opening many of those large boxes to find a jewel case with the manual a flimsy, square-shaped, set of six pages stapled together. On the other hand, a well designed DVD case can hold a manual the size of NWN2's, while I remember getting a the original NWN and its manual in a small box.

Edited April 15, 2007 by Maria Caliban

[Pop]

Lord Elden:

" I think the newest re-release has both FOs in the same package."

 

Indeed they do. I now have two copies of the first FO, as I lent FO2 to a friend who then moved to Montana. I've never played FO as I've heard FO2 is the same thing, only better.

I used to think so too, then I replayed F1, and I firmly believe that it is the best of the two. Fallout 2 is more refined, it's true. The party system, while still lacking in some respects, is much better. The inventory is streamlined. Fallout 2 seems fuller, but even with all of that, I still prefer the first game. I can't really explain it. It's not nostalgia. I think that Fallout nails down a feeling of non-linearity while still remaining focused that I honestly don't think F2 captured. Also, the villains are much creepier, which for me personally is a big plus. In all honesty, I believe that if Black Isle had gone with its original plan and not revealed the Enclave in the ****ing intro movie, I would have considered Fallout 2 to be a superior game in all respects. Truly.

 

That having been said, F2 has all the replay value, and the opportunity to be a fast-talker, which is my favorite character type. That's missing in the original.

 

I will say that it's definitely worth playing through. It's a lot shorter than F2, and you'll make it to 12th level tops. 12 hours or so of gameplay. Having played Fallout 2 first you'll probably find yourself wanting a few things, like new items in the inventory showing up on the top of the list instead of the bottom, but you won't regret sinking your time into it. You might not love it, but you'll be glad you got through it.

Edited April 15, 2007 by Pop

[Spider]

Say what? 12th level? I certainly recall getting higher than that when playing Fallout. Certainly in the range of 15-20 anyway. It's been ages though, but I'm pretty sure I didn't cap at 12. I'd also estimate gameplay hours in the vicinity of 20, at least when playing it for the first time. Possibly more.

 

I'd agree that Fallout is the better game. FO2 has the better engine, but the design itself suffers a bit. FO is tighter and more focused. FO2 went a little overboard with the easter eggs and injokes. I guess it all comes down to the word athmosphere. FO just has more of it than FO2. Both are still excellent games though.

[Dark_Raven]

The good old days of big boxes and games that came with an actual manual that you could kick back and read. I wish I kept those original Fallout boxes, I could probably sell the game for a lot of money on Ebay.

[Spider]

I like that manuals comes in electronic formats these days. And I like even more that I typically don't have to read them. Games should be good enough at explaining things in-game that I never have to look at the manual.

 

For instance, the only thing I used the NWN2 manual for was to look at feat requirements since feats I couldn't take didn't show up in the list (and thus not telling me why I couldn't take them). Oh, and PrC requirements, until the ones unavailable to me started to appear on level ups (they didn't for my first character, I think it was fixed in the first patch or it was just a weird bug with that character).

 

I do think that more games should incorporate in-game manuals though, like the Civ games or ToEE (one of the most redeeming aspects of that game).

[Girias_Solo]

Fallout manual

 

Not sure if anyone remembers 'Knights of Legend' but it had a really great manual. Origin really put the effort in back before the Evil Empire took over.

 

Arcanum's manual was nice. I enjoyed the way it was written in that urbane, Victorian type way.